Ping An Ventures leads $20m round for China's Xgene

Founded in 2016, the Shanghai and San Francisco-based company develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of chronic pain, infectious diseases and different kinds of tumors. It pipeline includes several painkillers that are currently in phase-two clinical trials in the US.

“Xgene is one of the few companies that has the capacity to develop new drugs in China and the US at the same time. These are dedicated to the needs of an increasing number of patients who suffer from various kinds of chronic pain. We hope this new injection of capital can accelerate drug development,” said Hui Zhou, a managing partner at Ping An Ventures.

Xgene is one of a growing number of start-ups established by Chinese scientists that have years of experience working in research labs and for multinational pharmaceutical companies in the US. The company’s CEO, Jinghong Xu, was previously an executive at Merck and at Taiwan-based TaiGen Biotechnology in Taiwan. In addition, Xgene’s chief scientist used to work for Tularik and Xenoport in the US.

Several other recently-funded companies have similar profiles. For example, the CEO of Harbour Biomed, which received a $85 million Series B in August, is an alumnus of Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb; and the co-founder and CEO and Brii Biosciences – recipient of a $260 million round in May – spent years with GlaxoSmithKline'.

Ping An Ventures was established in 2012 with a commitment of RMB1 billion ($144 million) from its parent group. The firm invests in small and medium-sized enterprises in areas such as science, technology, the internet, media, and mobility. It has over RMB 10 billion in assets under management and has backed more than 50 companies.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Early-stage
• China
• Ping An
• Morningside Technologies