Sino-US bio-pharma firm raises $55m Series C

New investors including GP TMT Capital, 3E Bioventures Capital and Delian Capital also participated in the round. Yu Miao of GP Healthcare will join the board of directors.

The new capital will be used to continue development of MRX-I, an antibiotic targeting infections created by multi-drug resistant bacteria, which is expected to complete its phrase-three drug trials in the US and China. The company has research and development facilities outside San Francisco and in Shanghai.

"The fast growing pharmaceuticals market in China presents an excellent opportunity for MRX-I. In parallel, we are pursuing development in the US and other global markets," Zhengyu Yuan, president and CEO of MicuRx, said in a statement. "We are very pleased to have the solid support of such a strong syndicate which will fund MicuRx through our first new drug application (NDA) filing in China."

MicuRx raised $12 million in a Series A funding in 2007 from Morningside Group and Devon Park Bioventures, according to AVCJ Research. It then formed a joint venture with Shanghai Zhangjiang Biomedical Industry Venture Capital in 2012 to support the development and commercialization of MRX-I for the domestic market. The following year, China life science-focused GP BVCF led a $25 million Series B round for MicuRx. Existing backers Morningside and Devon Park also participated. 

The company completed its phase-two trials of MRX-I to treat skin infections in the US and China last year, following a completion of phase-one trials in China and Australia.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Venture
• Healthcare
• Early-stage
• China
• USA
• Growth capital