Forlong Biotech’s Pre-B Financing Reaches Nearly RMB 200 Million as It Prepares FL115 for Phase 3 Bladder Cancer Trial
Forlong Biotech has completed the second close of its Pre-B financing, bringing the round’s total to nearly RMB 200 million. Fosun Health Capital’s new drug fund led the latest close, which raised more than RMB 100 million, according to Chinese financing coverage.
The money arrives as Forlong prepares its lead cancer immunotherapy candidate, FL115, for a registrational Phase 3 trial in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). It will also support clinical work on a subcutaneous version of FL115 for solid tumors, move the company’s second candidate, FL116, toward trials in solid tumors, and fund further drug candidates from its fusion-protein platform. PharmCube
FL115 is an engineered IL-15 superagonist designed to stimulate natural killer cells and CD8-positive T cells, two parts of the immune response that can attack tumors. In bladder cancer, Forlong is studying FL115 delivered directly into the bladder, including in combination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The company said in August that a manufacturing batch intended to support the planned Phase 3 trial had been completed; at that point, it expected the trial to begin in 2027. Its ongoing NMIBC study is evaluating FL115 alone and with BCG. Forlong’s manufacturing announcement
That gives the financing a clear near-term purpose: moving FL115 from early clinical testing toward a trial intended to support registration. Forlong has reported preliminary responses in patients treated with FL115, but those findings still need confirmation in larger studies. The planned Phase 3 program will be an important test of whether its approach can produce a reliable benefit for patients with NMIBC.
Forlong is also developing FL115 as a subcutaneous injection for solid tumors. Its other priority, FL116, pairs an anti-PD-1 antibody with an engineered version of the immune-signaling protein IL-18. Forlong says FL116 has shown antitumor activity in preclinical models, including models resistant to checkpoint inhibitors. It has yet to establish that benefit in patients. Forlong pipeline
With two candidates moving along different clinical paths, Forlong now has capital to pursue both. The next evidence that matters will come from FL115’s later-stage bladder cancer study and from human testing of the newer formulations and molecules.
References
