Chinese investors lead round for US influenza specialist
Ansun BioPharma, a US-based drug developer led by a former executive at healthcare-focused VC firms Caduceus Asia Partners and OrbiMed, has raised $80 million in Series B funding from a predominantly Chinese investor base.
Oceanpine Capital led the round, while existing investors Lilly Asia Ventures, Matrix Partners China, Yuanming Capital, Lyfe Capital and 3E Bioventures re-upped. The company closed a $85 million Series A round in May 2018 led by Sinopharm Healthcare Fund and Lilly Asia Ventures.
The capital will support phase-three clinical trials for Ansun's newly-developed medication to treat parainfluenza. The drug can stop viruses entering respiratory cells close to the skin's surface, thereby preventing the spread of infection. The first patient was enrolled in clinical trials in May.
According to Stanley Lewis, Ansun’s chief medical officer, parainfluenza is not life-threatening to healthy individuals. However, it can be deadly if contracted by hospitalized, immunocompromised patients who are recovering from cancer or organ transplants. He noted there are no approved drugs to treat parainfluenza.
“It has the potential to be the best-in-class drug in the same huge influenza virus infection market," said Liguang Chen, founder of Oceanpine.
Ansun was established in 2003 to develop new approaches to treating otherwise untreatable pandemic flu strains. Nancy Chang became a director in 2011 and took on the role of CEO in 2017. She founded a biopharma start-up called Tanox that was sold to Genentech in 2007 and then spent five years with Caduceus and OrbiMed.
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