Chinese biopharma player secures $100m Series B
Elpiscience, a Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company has completed a $100 million Series B round of funding led by specialist healthcare GP Hyfinity Investments.
Tencent Holdings, GTJA Investment Group, Dyee Capital, Oriza Holdings, Ming Bioventures, WisdoMont Asset Management, and Parkway Global also joined the round. Existing investors Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), Hillhouse Capital, and CDH Investments re-upped. Hyfinity is led by Sylvia He, who was previously responsible for healthcare coverage at CDH.
The proceeds will primarily go towards the pre-clinical and clinical development of several immunotherapy candidates. It will also be used to expand the company's drug pipeline through internal R&D and global partnerships.
Established in 2018, Elpiscience focuses on cancer treatments, leveraging a deep understanding of tumor biology and immunology. It currently has 12 products in development, of which one has entered phase-one clinical trials. The company recently secured RMB150 million ($21.5 million) in financing from Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China to build manufacturing facilities.
Elpiscience has two co-founders. One is Darren Ji, a venture partner at LAV who previously established contract research organization PharmaLegacy Laboratories. Part of LAV's strategy is to pursue an incubation model whereby it launches new start-ups internally or backs entrepreneurs who join as venture partners.
The other founder is Hongtao Lu, a veteran immunologist and formerly chief science officer at Zai Lab, a Chinese biotech start-up that received substantial VC funding before going public on NASDAQ in 2017.
“The rapid progress from preclinical to clinical development, the establishment of an integrated R&D team and the system, and Elpiscience’s global network and collaboration with leading academic institutions and industry partners testify to the team’s strength. Immunotherapy is one of the vertical foci for Hyfinity Investments, a field that we have already deeply cultivated for the last two years," He said in a statement.
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