China's Transcenta secures $100m funding round

CR-CP Life Science Fund – a joint venture between China Resources Group and Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group – and Fortune Capital served as co-leads. Additional commitments came from new investors such as Epiphron Capital, CCT China Merchant Buyout Fund, and China Equity Group. Several existing backers re-upped, among them Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), Temasek Holdings, Hillhouse Capital, Teng Yue Partners, Sequoia Capital China, and Arch Venture Partners.

Transcenta has established a pipeline comprising more than 10 innovative molecules that will be used as the basis for new treatments targeting cancer, bone disorders, and kidney disease. Last March, the company entered into a licensing agreement with Eli Lilly to commercialize antibodies for bone diseases in Greater China, including Blosozumab, which has completed stage-two clinical trials in the US. Clinical trials are expected to begin in China this year.

In July 2019, Transcenta received clearance for phase one trials in China for a treatment that kills tumor cells. The intellectual property was in-licensed from US-based InhibRx. Meanwhile, stage-two trials are ongoing in the US and China for a drug that utilizes immune tolerance breaking technology (ITBT) to produce antibodies that target cancer.

The ITBT work was pioneered ahead of the merger by MabSpace. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Hong Kong, the company conducts its R&D activities in mainland China at a fully integrated antibody discovery and development facility located in Suzhou Industrial Park. MabSpace received $15 million in Series A funding from LAV in 2015. This was followed by a $40 million Series B, led by Sequoia, in 2018.

Just Biotherapeutics was established in Seattle in 2014 by former scientists at Amgen and Genentech, which is a subsidiary of Roche. One year later, they formed HJB as a manufacturing center for the US technology platform. It was also intended to develop new drugs for the local market. LAV is an investor in Just Biotherapeutics and HJB is a product of its incubation program. Jonathan Zhao, previously head of Asia strategy for Amgen and Pfizer, launched the business while a venture partner at LAV.

LAV and Arch provided $12 million in Series A funding in 2016. Two years later, HJB closed a $92 million Series B round across two tranches, led by Temasek and Hillhouse, respectively. 

Zhao is now executive chairman of Transcenta while Xueming Qian, the founder of MabSpace, serves as CEO. Qian said in a statement that the new capital would go towards advancing clinical trials, expanding manufacturing capabilities, and strengthening senior management in preparation for an IPO.

"We are pleased to team up with other prominent investors investing in Transcenta and supporting the elite team anchored by the two top minds, Dr. Qian and Dr. Zhao. Transcenta has firmly established itself as an integrated biotech company with cutting-edge technology platforms ranging from discovery to manufacturing,” said Da Liu, managing director of CR-CP.

China Renaissance acted as the exclusive financial advisor for the transaction.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Healthcare
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Growth capital
• Lilly Asia Ventures
• Sequoia Capital
• Arch Capital
• China Resources Capital
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• Temasek Holdings