Forlong Raises Approximately 120 Million RMB in Series Pre-B Financing to Advance its IL-15 and IL-18 Pipeline

SHANGHAI & SUZHOU, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forlong Biotechnology, a clinical-stage biotech company focusing on developing transformative cytokine therapies for patients with severe unmet needs, today announced the successful completion of an RMB 120 million (approximately USD 17.5 million) Series Pre-B financing. This round is co-led by an undisclosed fund and Fudan Capital, along with Changshu Guofa Venture, Kunsheng Relay Fund and other investors. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance FL115, an IL-15 superagonist, into the pivotal clinical stage, and FL116, a PD-1/IL-18 bispecific, into clinic.

Fudan Capital Stated: “We are confident in Forlong Biotechnology’s leadership position in the cytokine therapeutics space. The company has established globally leading technology platforms including Fbody^® and Syntokine^®, validated through R&D collaborations with top-tier pharmaceutical companies such as Innovent and Henlius. Its lead asset, FL115, has demonstrated global best-in-class potential in Phase I clinical trials, with the bladder cancer indication already advancing into Phase II, underscoring a high probability of successful commercialization. We believe FL115 will emerge as a benchmark in tumor immunotherapy in the post-PD-1 era.”

Forlong last raised 110 million RMB (~$16.2 million) in February 2023. Since then, it has advanced FL115 into clinics and dosed 95 patients with advanced solid tumors or NMIBC, demonstrating best-in-class potential. In addition, it has developed a robust portfolio of interleukin-18 (IL-18) variants that fully escape IL-18BP neutralization, and FL116, a PD-1/IL-18 bispecific antibody, which has demonstrated potent tumor-killing efficacy in multiple in vivo tumor models with safety profile supported by pilot toxicology study in non-human primates. Furthermore, early research efforts are ongoing to engineer other cytokines.

“We welcome the new investors and appreciate the continuing support of existing investors.” Said Dong Wei, Ph.D., CEO of Forlong Biotechnology, “Exciting progress in the past 3 years have validated our cytokine-based portfolio strategy, R&D capability and efficiency. This round of financing will enable us to strengthen operational readiness and accelerate clinical development momentum to advance FL115 into Phase 3 pivotal study for BCG-unresponsive NMIBC, and FL115 as well as FL116 into Phase 2a definitive studies for solid tumors in 2027.”

"We are grateful to our new and existing investors for their confidence in the Forlong team, our technology platforms, and our product pipeline.” Said Mr. En Ji, Co-founder of Forlong Biotechnology, “Cytokine therapeutics have demonstrated breakthrough potential across multiple areas of significant unmet medical needs. Over the years, we are committed to synthetic immunology-driven original innovation, successfully building globally leading platforms including Fbody^® and Syntokine^®, and now advancing our lead asset FL115 into clinical validation. This financing will accelerate our core pipeline toward pivotal clinical stage. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on unmet medical needs, advance novel products , and strive to bring safer and more effective cytokine therapies to patients."