Deals and Financings

Innovent Biologics of Suzhou raised $260 million in a Series D round, a record venture funding for a China biopharma company (see story). The round brings Innovent's total fundraising to $410 million. The latest funding was led by China's State Development & Investment Corporation, a state-owned entity whose participation shows official China's interest in Innovent. Founded in 2011, Innovent is developing 12 biologic drugs, a combination of novel drugs and biosimilars. Four candidates are in clinical trials, three of them in Phase III. In 2015, Innovent sold ex-China rights for six oncology drug candidates to Lilly (NYSE: LLY) for $1 billion in upfront and milestone payments. 

Luye Pharma (HK: 2186) closed its $269 million acquisition of Acino's transdermal drug delivery business (see story), which it announced earlier this year. Acino, a Swiss company, offers high-margin, difficult-to-make transdermal patch products for niche markets that include CNS, pain and hormone indications. Luye positioned the transaction as a two-way street: it will bring Acino's products and technology to the China market, while it also uses Acino's expertise with non-China markets to export its China drug portfolio. 

Novogene Technology of Beijing raised $75 million in a Series B round that was funded by China investors (see story). Novogene, which has one of the largest sequencing capacities in the world, offers next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics services to biopharmas and hospitals. One year ago, Novogene formed a partnership with Illumina (NSDQ: ILMN) to develop clinical oncology diagnostics. Founded in 2011 by Dr. Ruiquiang Li, Novogene has nearly 1,000 employees in locations around the world. 

dMed Company Limited, a Shanghai CRO specialist founded in August, landed $8 million in a first-round financing (see story). Qiming Venture Capital was the lead investor joined by Tairui Investment, ZAI Laboratory and others. ZAI has enlisted dMed as an advisor for China clinical trials of its PARP program. dMed was founded by Dr. Lingshi Tan, who also set up Pfizer's China R&D center. After 20 years at Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Dr. Tan said he wanted to work on a larger scale to aid China drug development. It would be a shame, he said, if a China innovative drug development program failed because the clinical trials were poorly structured or carelessly carried out. 

Uni-Bio Science (HK: 690)of Hong Kong signed an agreement with Beijing Sun-Novo Pharma to co-develop multiple oral small molecule treatments for diabetes in China (see story). Initially, the two companies will focus on developing acarbose-class tablets to treat type 2 diabetes, and the collaboration will continue to develop a portfolio of diabetes-aimed products. Beijing Sun-Novo will complete the chemistry, manufacturing and control processes along with the bioequivalence study of acarbose. Uni-Bio will apply for drug licenses from the CFDA and commercialize the product upon approval. 

WI Harper Group agreed to partner with two other investment firms to fund startups that have US-China cross-border promise (see story). In life science, the companies will look for cross-border opportunities in healthcare IT, medical devices and biotech, supporting China’s goal of improving its technology infrastructure. The two other investment firms are Luxin Venture Capital Group and Shandong Leader Equity Investment Fund. No specific fundraising targets were disclosed. 

Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim announced a joint research project to treat hearing loss with China Southeast University Institute of Life Sciences in Nanjing (see story). The collaboration combines the work of Professor Renjie Chai at the Institute on the use of stem cells to regrow inner ear hair cells with BI's drug R&D experience. The venture is BI's first human research project in China, and its second Research Beyond Borders project, both of which address hearing loss. BI started the RBB initiative to expand its R&D beyond the company's core treatment areas. 

eimageglobal, a US-China division of Hangzhou Lianzhong Medical Science, formed a partnership with Client Outlook to incorporate eUnity, Client Outlook's clinical image viewing product, into eimageglobal's multi-functional online China healthcare platform (see story). eimageglobal's cloud-based platform offers scheduling of doctor visits, big data, diagnostic advice, and doctor-to-doctor consultations. Among other goals, eimageglobal expects its platform to advance healthcare delivery in China's rural areas. 

Trials and Approvals

Suzhou Alphamab and 3D Medicines (Sichuan) received approval from the US FDA to begin clinical trials of KN035, a PD-L1 bi-specific immunotherapy (see story). The two companies partnered on the molecule earlier this year: Alphamab discovered and developed the product, while 3D will be in charge of the clinical trials and commercialization. KN035 is a fusion protein of a PD-L1 single domain antibody and Fc. 

Cellular Biomedicine Group (NSDQ: CBMG) of Shanghai and the Bay Area started a China Phase I clinical trial of its newly optimized CAR-T immunotherapy (see story). C-CAR011 is a construct of the CD19 CAR-T therapy that CBMG in-licensed from Beijing's PLA General Hospital (the 301) last year. It will be tested as a treatment for patients with refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma. CBMG is developing immunotherapies for cancer and stem cell treatments for degenerative diseases. 

MicuRx Pharma, a US-China anti-infectives company, began a US Phase I trial to test the oral and IV formulations of its novel antimicrobial agent MRX-4 (see story). MRX-4 is aimed at treating Gram-positive infections including drug-resistant strains. MRX-4 is an oral prodrug form of MRX-1, which is currently in China Phase III trials as a treatment for complicated skin infections. Both forms are expected to be effective against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE).