Xiaomo, World’s Leading Expert on RNA Biomanufacturing Technology Completes an Angel Round

(Hong Kong, 10 January 2025) – Xiaomo Biotech recently completed a ten million RMB angel round investment led by Shanghai Science & Technology Investment Co. The investment will significantly boost the company’s RNA production capacity and product pipelines.

Professor Huang Linfeng, the Founder of Xiaomo, has 20 years of research experience in the field of RNA interference (RNAi) and has long been committed to developing RNAi applications for medicine and agriculture. He has won the Annual Outstanding Research Award of the Association of Chinese Experts and Scholars at Harvard Medical School, the Top 100 Enterprises in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area High Value Patent Competition, the Potential Enterprise Award in the 2nd Top 50 of Innovative Biotechnology Enterprises in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and the Gold Medal of the Geneva International Invention Competition. 

RNAi, which remarkably won two Nobel Prizes (2006 and 2024), is a precision gene regulatory mechanism, universally present in humans, animals, plants, fungi, insects, etc. Since 2018, several RNAi medicines have been approved to treat critical genetic disorders and chronic metabolic diseases, benefiting millions of patients and generating billions of US dollars in revenue.

In 2019, Xiaomo entered Hong Kong Science Park and received funding from the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Government and the Incu-Bio incubation programme of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) that offers a variety of tools and support, including laboratory facilities, business matching and financial aid. The company is committed to the development of RNA biomanufacturing technology and RNAi products. Xiaomo’s unique pro-siRNA technology has achieved low-cost and large-scale production of small interfering RNA (siRNA), the effector molecule of RNAi. Compared with the chemical synthesis method, the company's technology is more environmentally friendly, and the overall synthesis cost is less than 5% of chemical synthesis. Xiaomo’s technology expands RNAi application into cost-sensitive areas, including agricultural applications and high-throughput drug target screenings. The company's products and services have already been used and validated by R&D and industrial customers.

In 2023, Xiaomo expanded R&D and production facilities into mainland China at Shanghai Zhangjiang Pharma Valley and Kunshan Small Nucleic Acid and Biomedicine Industrial Park, supported by a seed investment from a veteran investor in agrochemical industry. With this series investment of angel round from a leading VC in Shanghai, Xiaomo is now establishing kilogram-scale RNA production capacity to fulfill regulatory approval requirements for RNA pesticides. 

RNA pesticides are poised to replace some traditional chemical pesticides due to the distinct advantages of precision, high potency, and non-toxic nature to human, especially in areas where traditional pesticides have developed resistance. The world's first RNA pesticide was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December 2023 and was selected by Science magazine as one of the top ten breakthroughs in 2024. This emerging biotechnology is expected to enter a new stage of rapid growth. Xiaomo will continue to lead this field by developing green, efficient, and highly valued RNAi products in China for the world.