Oriza Seed leads $25m Series A for Shanghai biotech firm
Oriza Seed Venture Capital, an early-stage and growth-stage investment unit under China’s Oriza Holdings, has led a $25 million Series A round for EpimAb Biotherapeutics, a Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical firm.
Decheng Capital, 3E Bioventures Capital and Trend Investment Group also participated in the round. Oriza’s Ning Li and Decheng’s Min Cui will both join the board.
Founded in 2015, EpimAb develops antibody therapeutics for human immune systems to help fight cancer. In June, 2016, it formed a $120 million partnership with Suzhou-based Innovent Biologics on developing bispecific antibodies, which can attack more than one type of harmful cell at once.
With the new funding, Epimab will advance its proprietary bispecific platform technology and build a pipeline of therapeutic candidates for cancer treatments. The first clinical trial with a proprietary program is expected to start next year.
“Even though the bispecific antibody space is very competitive, we are confident that Epimab has the potential to become a leader in the sector with a proprietary platform that was validated through early partnerships with biopharmaceutical companies in China and abroad,” said Eric Zhao, general partner at Oriza Seed.
Located in Suzhou Industrial Park, Oriza Seed is targeting at early-stage and growth-stage companies in the fields of healthcare, technology, media and telecom (TMT). As of last month, Oriza Seed invested in more than 70 healthcare companies, including Ascentage Pharma, Innovent Biologics, and CStone Pharmaceuticals.
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