Oricell Therapeutics Announces US$70M Initial Closing of Series C Financing, to Accelerate Global Development of Solid Tumor CAR-T Therapies

SHANGHAI and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Oricell Therapeutics Holdings Limited ("Oricell" or "the Company"), a global leader in innovative cancer immunotherapy, announced today the closing of a $70M Series C1 financing.

The round was co-led by Beijing Medical and Health Care Industry Investment Fund, Qiming Venture Partners and a leading global healthcare fund, with participation from a sovereign wealth fund, NGS Super (NGS), E-Town Capital, Elikon Venture, and Talon Capital. Proceeds will accelerate Oricell's global expansion and clinical development, while strengthening its technological capabilities and paving ways to commercialization.

Oricell is advancing a differentiated pipeline of CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors, underpinned by three proprietary platforms developed over the past decade:

• Ori®Ab: antibody discovery and engineering library
• Ori®Armoring: enhancement of T-cell persistence and other crucial functions by TAs（Therapeutic Areas）
• OnGo (Fast) CMC: rapid, scalable and effective manufacturing

Oricell has generated proof-of-concept (POC) clinical data across multiple pipeline CAR-T products. Its lead program, Ori-C101, is an autologous GPC3-targeted CAR-T therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Both a Phase I Investigator-Initiated Trial (IIT) and a Phase I IND study of Ori-C101 are completed. With far-leading-industry efficacy and safety profile, Ori-C101's clinical data have been featured at major academic conferences such as ASCO 2021 and ASCO 2025. Ori-C101 is entering the registrational pivotal trial and is well positioned to become the world's first approved CAR-T therapy for HCC.

Beyond Ori-C101, Oricell's integrated platforms are also yielding multiple next-generation CAR-T products with multi-targets and multi-mechanism designs. The innovative secreting CAR-T, OriC902, has shown groundbreaking efficacy and durability in ultra-late-line and difficult-to-treat solid tumor patients. Additionally, the company has initiated an IIT study to evaluate its proprietary dual-targeted in vivo CAR-T.

"We are deeply grateful for the strong vote of confidence from our investors," said Dr. Helen Yang, Chairlady and CEO of Oricell Therapeutics. "Oricell will continue to push forward the global clinical advancement of our pipeline, as well as continuous R&D of in vivo products and new technologies. Leveraging our deep technical expertise, policy tailwind and expanding market opportunities, we are able to accelerate the development of our CAR-Ts in the clinic at full speed. Our mission is to bring efficacious and affordable cell therapies to cancer patients worldwide with the hope of cure. By doing that, we aim to become a leading global immunotherapy enterprise."

Mr. Peng Ren, Chairman and General Manager of Beijing Medical and Health Care Industry Investment Fund, noted: "We believe cell therapy is a pivotal frontier in the fight against solid tumors, and we are highly impressed by the clinical progress of Oricell's GPC3 CAR-T in treating HCC. We strongly value the team's R&D capabilities and commercial vision, and look forward to supporting the company in accelerating global clinical breakthroughs for its core products."

"As an early investor in Oricell, we've witnessed the Company's evolution from a promising startup to a technology powerhouse—from advancing autologous CAR-Ts to secreting CAR-Ts, to pioneering a 3-day rapid manufacturing process, and now to exploring in vivo CAR-T in the clinic," said Mr. Xubo Hu, Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners. "Oricell's relentless innovation efforts continue to impress us and we are delighted to back a team that is committed to building truly global and groundbreaking therapies."

About Oricell Therapeutics

Oricell is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation cell therapies to address unmet needs in oncology and immunology. Built on three proprietary platforms: Ori®Ab (antibody discovery), Ori®Armoring (T-cell enhancement), and OnGo (Fast) CMC (rapid manufacturing) — Oricell has advanced a diversified pipeline targeting both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Multiple candidates have demonstrated favorable tolerability and meaningful clinical activity in early-phase studies. Data have been featured at leading global conferences and top-tier academic journals, including 2021 ASCO, 2022 ASCO, 2022 EHA, 2024 ASCO, 2024 SITC, 2024 ASH, 2025 AACR, 2025 ASCO, 2025 EHA and The Lancet Haematology. Guided by scientific rigor and patient-centric innovation, Oricell is committed to transforming the future of cell therapy and delivering new hope to patients worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.oricell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not historical facts, but instead are predictions about future events based on the beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the management of Oricell Therapeutics Holdings Limited ("the Company" or "Oricell"). The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievement implied by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE OriCell Therapeutics Co., Ltd.