Brii Biosciences gets $260m for China expansion
A group of VCs, including Sequoia Capital, have committed $260 million to Brii Biosciences, a China and US-based healthcare start-up executing a number of China-focused growth initiatives.
Additional investors include Arch Ventures Partners, 6 Dimensions Capital, Boyu Capital, Yunfeng Capital, and Blue Pool Capital. The capital will be used to drive development and delivery of various chronic disease treatments in China under new partnerships with Alibaba Group, WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics and US-based Vir Biotechnology.
Brii will leverage the digital and data technology knowhow of Alibaba’s AliHealth unit as part of joint efforts to develop new medicines and therapies. The company will also have exclusive rights in Greater China for the use of four biotech assets in the Vir portfolio. Meanwhile, a memorandum of understanding with WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics will focus on cooperative R&D.
"The pace of innovation has accelerated over the past decade, resulting in dramatically better treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases, but the reach of those innovations in China has been limited," Zhi Hong, co-founder and CEO of Brii, said in a statement. “China needs faster, affordable access to new therapies, and has the public health infrastructure and advanced digital and data technologies to enable that at scale."
Brii was set up earlier this year with a view to developing innovative treatments for diseases that pose a significant societal burden in China, including infectious diseases, and liver and lung diseases. This work will focus on improving domestic healthcare system processes through the use of new technologies to accelerate drug development and commercialization.
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