Pivotal China seeds Sino-US cancer drug developer

Other investors in the round included Nan Fung Life Sciences, a division of Nan Fung that operates across Greater China and the US. China Merchant Bank Investments and Volcanics Ventures also participated.

Oncologie focuses on therapeutics that modify the immune system to enhance efficacy of current standards of care and emerging immunotherapy agents. It is expected to leverage recent regulatory changes in China to conduct parallel clinical development in China and the US and bring new immuno-oncology products to both markets simultaneously.

"Oncologie is leveraging the opportunity to run clinical trials in both the US and China to develop drugs for the global market," said Jimmy Wei, a managing partner of Pivotal, said in a statement. "We think these coordinated efforts will shorten the time between launching innovative drugs in the US and China."

Pivotal was set up in the US last year as a captive GP with a $300 million fund and secured an additional $150 million last month for a China-focused incubation program. Priority investment areas include pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare services as well as helping portfolio companies license products that could serve unmet medical needs.

Establishment of the firm represents an extension of a trend among Chinese VCs to embrace earlier-stage life science projects as well as an expansion of Nan Fung's existing healthcare investment program, which to date has focused on fund commitments. It aims to exploit a Sino-US data divide in the sector and develop products for the global market by backing companies ahead of their first institutional funding rounds.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Early-stage
• China
• USA
• seed
• Pharmaceuticals
• Pivotal Bioventure Partners China