The CAR-T Startup Betting $110M It Can Crack Liver Cancer

When a sovereign wealth fund and a pension fund show up in the same biotech round, that tells you something. These aren't spray-and-pray venture capitalists. They're institutions that move slowly, do exhaustive diligence, and don't chase hype.

The round actually built on a $70 million Series C1 tranche that closed back in January 2026. This latest closing brought the cumulative total past $110 million. No valuation was publicly disclosed, which is standard for pre-IPO rounds where both sides prefer to keep their cards close.

Shan Fu, Managing Partner at Vivo Capital, praised Oricell's "best-in-class data" and its roadmap for next-generation therapies, including in vivo CAR-T (a technique where the genetic reprogramming happens inside the patient's body, skipping the complicated extraction step). Qiming's William Hu, who has backed Oricell since its Pre-A round, said the company has evolved "from technology exploration to global expansion."

More Than a One-Trick Pipeline

Ori-C101 is the headliner, but Oricell isn't a one-product shop. The company has built out a pipeline that hedges its bets across multiple approaches:

OriC902 is a next-generation "secreting" CAR-T that delivers cytokines (immune-boosting molecules) directly into the tumor microenvironment. Early results in late-stage, hard-to-treat solid tumor patients have reportedly shown "groundbreaking efficacy and durability." If Ori-C101 is the battering ram, OriC902 is the siege weapon designed to dismantle the fortress walls from the inside.

OriCAR-017 targets a different disease entirely: relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. It scored FDA Orphan Drug Designation in October 2022 and FDA IND approval in January 2024, with follow-up data published in The Lancet Haematology. This gives Oricell a U.S. regulatory foothold that many Chinese biotechs lack.

The company has also kicked off an investigator-initiated trial for a dual-targeted in vivo CAR-T approach, which could eventually eliminate the need for the complex, expensive manufacturing process that makes current CAR-T therapies cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient.

The China Question

Let's address the elephant in the room. Chinese biotech companies face real headwinds when it comes to Western investors and regulators. Geopolitical tensions, data security concerns, and regulatory scrutiny have all created friction.

But the numbers paint a different picture. In 2025, 73 Chinese biotech and med-tech companies filed for IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HKEX raised a staggering $23.9 billion across 66 IPOs by Q3 of that year, up 192% year over year. Hong Kong has essentially become a safe harbor for Chinese biotechs that want access to international capital without the Nasdaq headaches.

China's CAR-T ecosystem is also maturing fast. Eight CAR-T therapies have already won NMPA approval (China's equivalent of the FDA). Companies like Legend Biotech, which co-developed the blockbuster Carvykti with Janssen, have proven that Chinese cell therapy innovation can compete on the global stage.

Oricell fits neatly into this trend, but with a twist: its solid tumor focus puts it in a lane with far less traffic. The global CAR-T market is projected to hit $13.78 billion by 2031, and the vast majority of that is still concentrated in blood cancers. Whoever cracks solid tumors first opens up a massive, underserved market.

The IPO Clock Is Ticking

Oricell hasn't disclosed specific IPO timing or a target exchange, but the pre-IPO label on this round makes the intention clear. With over $110 million in fresh capital, a lead asset entering pivotal trials, and a diversified pipeline spanning solid tumors and blood cancers, the company is assembling the pieces that public market investors want to see.

The real question isn't whether Oricell can IPO. It's whether Ori-C101 can deliver the pivotal trial data that would turn this story from "promising startup" into "category creator." CAR-T therapy for solid tumors has been the industry's white whale for over a decade. If a Shanghai company with $110 million and a decade of GPC3 research is the one to finally harpoon it, that would reshape the entire cell therapy landscape.

No pressure, Oricell.

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