GIC leads $85m Series B for China's Harbour BioMed

Existing investors Legend Capital and Advantech Capital also participated in the round, as did new investors China Life Private Equity and Vertex Ventures. The new capital will be used to accelerate the development of Harbour’s drug pipeline.

Harbour was launched in 2016 with a $50 million Series A round from Advantech, Legend, and Atlas Capital that financed the acquisition of Harbour Antibodies, a Netherlands-based developer of transgenic antibody technology. Advantech and CDH Investments later committed an undisclosed amount of capital to an extended Series A round this year.

The company has three drugs under development: treatments for multiple autoimmune diseases and for cancer aimed at the China market, and a cancer therapy developed for the global market. The cancer drugs are currently in early-stage clinical trials, while the autoimmune treatment is being prepared for clinical testing.

“During the one and half years since we established operations, Harbour has successfully expanded its network of collaborations, rapidly built an innovative pipeline through internal discovery and in-licensed development stage programs, and established an experienced and professional team,” said Harbour’s founder and CEO Dr. Jingsong Wang in a statement. “The financing is a very strong vote of confidence by our new and existing investors in our vision for the company, strategy, progress to date, and our team.”

Advantech was set up in 2016 along with Redview Capital by Jinming Yu, co-founder of Chinese GP New Horizon Capital, who left New Horizon following reports of internal disputes with co-founder Winston Wen. Advantech and Redview are currently raising separate vehicles, each targeting $750 million. Advantech focuses on growth capital investments in technology, media and telecom (TMT) and healthcare, while Redview concentrates on more traditional business.

Healthcare is prominent in Advantech’s portfolio, with investees including KBP Biosciences and Sinovac Biotech. Advantech invested $87 million in Sinovac alongside Vivo Capital earlier this year after a planned take-private involving Advantech, Vivo, and several other PE investors fell through. Advantech has also backed Chinese drug developer Zai Lab, which raised $150 million in its US IPO last year.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• China
• GIC Private
• Advantech Capital
• Legend Capital
• Vertex Management (II)
• Pharmaceuticals