Bay Island Cells Raises 140M RMB Series A, Fan Xiaohu Pushes Non-Gene-Edited Universal CAR-T

Bay Island Cells recently closed a 140M RMB Series A round, led by Pine Tree Capital with follow-on from Oriental Fortune Capital. Founder Fan Xiaohu, known for leading Legend Biotech's CAR-T drug cilta-cel, left in 2022 and became embroiled in a trade secret lawsuit with Genscript; in late 2025, the Supreme Court rejected all Genscript claims, ruling in Fan's favor. Concurrent with the financing, the company presented IIT clinical data at ASCO for its CD19 CAR-T based on the non-gene-edited universal platform Revo-U: among 4 DLBCL patients, the earliest low-dose patient remains in complete remission (CR) for ~14 months; the second achieved CR at 1 month but progressed at 3 months, with only grade 1 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) for 5 days; one high-dose patient had peak CAR-T expansion over 19 million copies/mL but experienced grade 3 CRS. Bay Island plans to replace gene editing with protein-directed degradation, aiming for 3,000 doses per batch and standardized production at costs close to standard biologics. For investors and researchers, success could break the million-dollar pricing of autologous CAR-T and dramatically improve accessibility. The company has 4-5 pipeline candidates, focusing on solid tumors and autoimmune diseases, and also invested in in vivo CAR-T technology in 2023. It is open to BD and commercialization partnerships, pursuing both drug registration and medical technology transformation pathways.