Who are the investors supporting He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist behind the gene-edited babies?
- Chinese and international venture capital firms have invested at least 298 million yuan in two of He Jiankui’s biotech start-ups
Dr He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who claims to have created the world’s first gene-edited babies, has received at least 298 million yuan (US$43 million) in funding for his two biotech start-ups from Chinese and international investors.
Shenzhen Direct Genomics Biotechnology, a Shenzhen-based genome sequencing firm that He chairs and has a 33.2 stake, received 218 million yuan in Series A funding round in April, according to a statement on its website earlier this year.
The funding was led by Shenzhen Cosun Venture Capital Investment Management, a venture capital firm owned by Shenzhen-listed Coship Electronics and Chen Libei, an executive of state-backed Fortune Capital.
Scientists warn of ‘far-reaching effects’ of He Jiankui’s GM babies
Shenzhen Cosun is an investment firm focused on the health care sector. Besides Direct Genomics, it has also made an early-stage investment in K2 Oncology, a Beijing-based start-up focused on patient-derived organoids research, which has the potential to help personalise the treatment for some cancers.
Other investors include Beijing Xiyi Asset Management, which has only one venture capital deal – Direct Genomics – since its inception in 2016 on public record.
Direct Genomics, established in July 2012, was worth 1.5 billion yuan, He, the associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, was cited as saying in a news report posted on the Chinese government’s website in January.
In November 2016, Direct Genomics received an undisclosed amount of funding from three investors – Beijing Tengye Venture Capital, Amer International Group, and Sinotech Genomics, according to tianyancha.com, a Chinese corporate information data provider.