On January 1, 2026, StarAOV Biotechnology announced the completion of a new financing round totaling nearly 100 million RMB. The round was co-led by Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, Dingxin Capital, Nanjing Xingang High-Tech Investment, among others. The early-stage incubator, Fosun Health Capital’s Innovative Drug Fund under Fosun Pharma, continued its investment.

With the industrial attraction and support of Nanjing Xingang Biotech Company, the company has further expanded its regional strategic layout. The completion of this financing marks strong recognition from the capital market of StarAOV’s core team, technology platform, product pipeline and clinical strategy.

The proceeds will mainly be used to accelerate the independent IP layout, registrational clinical implementation and commercialization of the OTOF pipeline.The lead product in this pipeline has fully validated its safety and efficacy through an Investigator-Initiated Trial (IIT):11 patients with congenital deafness caused by OTOF gene deficiency were treated, after which their hearing function improved significantly and recovered to near-natural hearing levels.

This study has the broadest age range of patients among global peer studies, with the longest postoperative follow-up exceeding 2.5 years, continuously verifying the stability and durability of therapeutic effects — consistent with the expectation of “one-time treatment, long-term efficacy” for gene therapy in otology.

Based on continuous outputs from this clinical study, the research team has published 4 high-impact international papers and received coverage from authoritative media including People’s Daily and Xinhua Daily. Drawing on this clinical experience, the team also led the release of clinical group standards and guidelines for otologic gene therapy, and will continue to optimize relevant standards and guidelines for registrational clinical trials.

Professor Chai Renjie, Scientific Founder and Chief Scientist of StarAOV, stated:“As an innovative company focused on otologic gene therapy, StarAOV targets deafness and auditory nerve-related diseases — areas long lacking effective treatments — and is committed to translating cutting-edge research into therapies that substantially improve patients’ lives. On behalf of the team, I sincerely thank all new and existing shareholders for their trust.”

Yan Peng’an, General Manager of Investment Department III of Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, commented:“Otologic gene therapy is a sector with significant clinical value and high technical barriers. The StarAOV team has demonstrated solid technical expertise and strategic commitment. We value its long-term dedication to addressing major unmet clinical needs.

For this investment, we adopted a combined investment model using the Provincial Emerging Industry Future Industry Angel Fund, University Sci-Tech Achievement Transformation Fund and Nanjing Biomedical Industry Fund. This embodies our mission to advance China-originated innovative therapies. It is not only a commercial investment but also a strategic action focusing on ESG social value and strengthening the demographic dividend structure.”

Founded in 2022 by Fosun Pharma and Professor Chai Renjie of Southeast University through Fosun Health Capital’s Innovative Drug Innovation Fund, Suzhou StarAOV Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has focused on otology, auditory nerves and neurodegenerative fields from inception.Using deafness (hearing loss) gene therapy as its strategic breakthrough, the company is gradually expanding into regenerative medicine and combination drug-device therapies, aiming to become a global leader in this emerging field.

Through long-term technological accumulation and innovation, StarAOV has deeply researched the regeneration, protection and regulation of inner ear hair cells and auditory neurons, and steadily advanced clinical translation, accumulating rich experience and insights in both basic research and real-world studies.

Based on its dual-AAV platform, StarAOV has built a comprehensive patent portfolio covering the inner ear and auditory nerve fields, including (but not limited to) novel AAV serotypes, inner ear-specific regulatory elements, dual-vector systemic delivery technology and other key combination patents, establishing a strong technological and commercial barrier.