Cell therapy company Grit Biotechnology has secured more than $60m (436.72m yuan) in a Series B funding round to support the development of its pipeline programmes.

China International Capital Corporation led the financing round, which saw investments from Liando Group, Qianhai Ark, Yuanhe Capital and HeFangTian Venture Partnership.

Grit's existing investors, namely Sherpa Healthcare Partners, Matrix Partners China and Decheng Capital, also took part in the financing round.

Grit plans to utilise the investment proceeds to support the development of its tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) pipeline.

These funds will also be used for the Phase II clinical trial of TIL therapy, GT101, and progress next-gen gene-edited TIL products. 

GT101 is set to enter the Phase II trial by year-end.

Grit Biotechnology was established in 2019 and is focused on offering transformative therapies for cancer. 

The company uses four technology platforms for developing gene-edited TIL products: StemTexp, StaViral, KOReTIL and genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screening platform ImmuT Finder. 

Apart from GT101, the company is developing GT201, a genetically engineered TIL product, and a next-gen TIL product, GT316.  

GT201 has received new drug application clearance from the China Food and Drug Administration and is currently being evaluated in Phase I trials while GT316 is in investigator-initiated trials in the region.

Grit has a 10,000m² GMP-level cell therapy production facility in Suzhou with a workforce of more than 100 specialists.