Porton Advanced Solutions completes a Series B financing round to expand its end-to-end Gene and Cell Therapy CDMO Platforms

SUZHOU, China, Aug. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 19, 2022, Porton Advanced Solutions (Porton Advanced) announced the completion of its Series B financing round with over US$80Million. Current round of financing was led by China Merchants Groups' healthcare PE fund Merchant Health, along with its sister fund China Merchants Capital, China Merchants Securities Investments. In addition, a number of renowned venture and private equity firms participated in the current round of financing, including Fosun Health Capital, Gortune Investment and SDICTK. Apart from the new investors, current Porton Advanced shareholders, Porton Pharma Solutions, CS Capital, HM Capital, Ruilian Investment and Momentum Venture, also participated in the current round. Porton Advanced will use the proceeds to continue its business expansion into different markets, with investment in core manufacturing infrastructures and in global commercial operations. Such expansion would put Porton Advanced in a great position to become a global end-to-end gene and cell therapy (GCT) CDMO platform to help bring cutting edge therapies to patients.

Focusing solely on gene and cell therapy CDMO services, Porton Advanced has rapidly established an integrated CDMO platform providing a spectrum of services covering plasmids, cell therapy, gene therapy, oncolytic virus, nucleic acid therapy and microbial vectors used for gene therapy (MVGTs). Current operational footprint includes a 40,000sqft R&D and GMP production facility already in operation for over two years, which successfully delivered a number of plasmids, viruses and cell batches to our sponsors. A 160,000sqft facility for commercial production will be operational in the end of 2022/early 2023. By then, Porton Advanced will have over 200,000sqft of PD, AD, and GMP manufacturing facility dedicated for gene and cell therapy. In total, Porton Advanced will have 10 GMP viral vector production lines, 10 GMP cell therapy production lines and hundreds of clean rooms. Such a scale and footprint would allow Porton Advanced to significantly upgrade its AAV, oncolytic virus and mRNA CDMO capacity and capability which in turn empower our sponsors and support the GCT industry.

Current round of financing will help Porton Advanced to further improve the development and manufacturing capacity in both China and overseas, with the aim of establishing a global end-to-end gene and cell therapy CDMO platform. Through its efforts to accelerate the development of GCT therapeutics, Porton Advanced intends to become a top player that help drive the transformation of medicine.

Dr. Wang Yangzhou, CEO of Porton Advanced, said, "we are very pleased and grateful for the recognition and trust by China Merchants Health and all the other new and current capital partners. With a talented and passionate team, proprietary technologies, state of the art production lines and equipment, as well as track records from both Porton Advanced and from our parent company, Porton Pharma Solutions, we will work hand in hand with our sponsors and partners to reach more milestones in the GCT field. In the coming months, we will continue to improve and optimize our internal quality and program management systems, enhance our ability to operate at overseas and domestic markets, and continue to provide best possible CDMO services to our customers with our open, innovative and reliable platforms, so that best medicine would reach the public sooner."

Representing the current consortium of investors, the lead investor China Merchants Health, expressed its great confidence in the GCT field and said that, "the cell and gene therapy holds great promises for patients as well as for long-term commercial success. Porton Advanced is a leading cell and gene therapy CDMO service provider with a very experienced, internationally oriented management and technical team. China Merchants Health is pleased to lead in this round of financing and looks forward to working with Porton Advanced to unlock the great benefit of GCT by serving global cell and gene therapy companies, and promote the development of the cell and gene therapy industry for the benefits of patients everywhere."

About Porton Advanced Solutions
Established in Suzhou Industrial Park in December 2018, by its parent company Porton Pharma Solutions Ltd. (Stock Code: 300363), Porton Advanced has built a CDMO platform integrating plasmid, cell therapy, gene therapy, oncolytic virus, nucleic acid therapy and microbial vectors used for gene therapy (MVGTs), providing end-to-end services from cell banking, process development and analytical development, cGMP production to final Fill and Finish , investigator-initiated clinical trials (IIT), investigational new drugs (IND), clinical trials to commercial production. Porton Advanced is dedicated to support sponsors advance their GCT drug development and market launches.

Porton Advanced focuses solely on gene and cell therapy services. Built on the professional experience of its cohort of world-class professionals, as well as on the successes of its parent company, Porton Advanced insists on "Customer First" and the tenet of "Compliance, Expertise, Focus, Open Collaboration". With its key focus on protecting IP for its sponsors, through its comprehensive project management and quality systems, Porton Advanced strives to bring gene and cell therapy products to the clinic and the market through its quality CDMO services, and help bring the best medicine to the public sooner.

About Porton Pharma Solutions
With over 5000 customer-centric employees, and operations and commercial offices across the US, EU and China, Porton Pharma Solutions Ltd. provides global pharmaceutical companies with innovative, reliable and end-to-end process R&D and manufacturing services across small molecule APIs, dosage forms and biologics. We are committed to being the most open, innovative and reliable pharmaceutical service platform in the world and enabling public's early access to good medicines.

About China Merchants Health
China Merchants Health Care Holdings Company Limited ("China Merchants Health"), is the major health care investment platform of China Merchants Group。The vision of the China Merchants Health Fund is "Empowering better Health care in the new Digital Era", and its mission is "Lead with Technology, build better healthcare value chain ". Focusing on key & Core Technologies , China Merchants Health is committed to driving the transformation of health-care sector and health care ecosystem through investment and operational empowerment.

About China Merchants Capital
China Merchants Capital Investment Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "China Merchants Capital" or "CMC") specializes in alternative investment and asset management, and seeks opportunities across seven key sectors: green technology; healthcare; transportation, infrastructure and logistics; TMT; advanced manufacturing; real estate; financial services and fintech. At the end of 2021, China Merchants Capital manages 44 RMB funds and 8 Foreign Currency funds. Its total AUM exceeds 300 billion RMB, in which RMB AUM totals over 230 billion yuan, and foreign currency AUM totals over 70 billion yuan.

About China Merchants Securities Investment
China Merchants Securities Investment Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned alternative investment subsidiary of China Merchants Securities, with a registered capital of CNY7.1 billion, mainly engaged in equity investment and financial product investment. Focusing on national policies and industrial layout, it is committed to providing financial services covering the whole industry chain for its investees. It has invested in more than 20 leading companies in the medical market.

About Fosun Health Capital
Fosun Health Capital is a majority-owned subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical（Group）Co., Ltd.. It acts as the general partner of a number of RMB-denominated funds that focus on the healthcare sector, including incubation angel funds, venture capital funds and growth private equity funds. These funds invest in various healthcare sectors, including biopharmaceuticals, advanced medical equipment, in vitro diagnostics, life sciences, and treatment technologies, and leverage various exit options to achieve capital appreciation subsequently. Taking advantage of Fosun's global R&D advantages and industrial layout, Fosun Health Capital performs effective value-add and nurture growth to its portfolio companies throughout their entire life cycle.

About Gortune Investment
GORTUNE PRIVATE EQUITY FUND MANAGEMENT CO.,LTD. is the only private equity investment platform controlled by GORTUNE INVESTMENT CO., LTD. The key investment directions include life sciences, new energy, pan-consumption, agriculture and other fields. It is committed to long-term wealth management for investors.

About SDICTK
SDICTK Trust aims to serving the real economy, cultivates high-quality equity projects with professional investment and research capabilities, and empowers invested enterprises at multiple levels with its core strengths, such as industry-financing combination. Such efforts have won advantages for the active transition of the trust company!

About CS Capital
CS Capital ("CSC") is one of the largest private equity investment firms headquartered in Beijing with over RMB 100bn of AUM from a diversified investor base. Riding on the need for advances in technology, tech-enabled services, smart devices, and next-generation communication networks in China's NEV and healthcare industries, CSC invests in companies with attractive prospects for growth driven by anticipated emerging trends and proven technological advantages and has generated strong returns for its LPs over a ten-year period.

About HM Capital
HM Capital is a healthcare -focused investment firm committed to building an investment platform with a global view and local execution. Through the investment mode of dual-currency and multi-strategy, we aim to help early and growth-stage healthcare companies achieve accelerated development by leveraging the ecosystems of HM Healthcare Management Services. We work closely with fast-growing, innovative healthcare companies to harness the power of breakthroughs in sciences and technologies globally, and create value for the leading entrepreneurs through empowerment by sharing our global business and resource network.

About Ruilian Investment
Ruilian Investment——Hainan Hongde Ruilian Consulting Management Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huashan Ruilian Fund Management Co., Ltd. With accumulated AUM over RMB 15 billion, Ruilian Investment focus its investments on healthcare, advanced manufacturing and consumer goods.

About Momentum Venture
Momentum Venture is a venture capital focused on innovative teams in the field of life and health, dedicated to mining and cultivating revolutionary and disruptive technologies. The fund's investors include listed companies, government guidance funds, market-oriented fund of funds, and high-net-worth individuals. Working closely with the industry, we provide our portfolio companies with resources to accelerate their development and promote the industrialization of science and technology.

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