Shanghai CDMO player gets $51m Series A
Zhenge Biotech – a Shanghai-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for large molecule drugs – has raised $51 million in Series A funding led by Lyfe Capital.
Other investors include IDG Capital, Cowin Capital, Korea Investment Partners, GT Capital, and Growth FOF, a fund-of-funds launched by Shanghai International Group. The new capital will go towards recruitment, R&D expansion, and construction of a 10,000-square-meter production base in Shanghai Free Trade Pilot Zone. Another facility will be built in the US.
Established in 2017, ZhenGe provides CMC (chemistry, manufacturing, and control) services to pharmaceutical companies. The team has completed more than 20 projects, all of which received new drug approvals in China or overseas. Two have progressed to the next approval stage - the Biologics Licence Application (BLA) - in China.
ZhenGe has over 110 employees, including seven scientists and engineers who were trained overseas. The company operates a 2,000 sqm lab in Shanghai, which is set to expand to 3,600 sqm by the end of the year, and a 4,000-square-foot lab in the US. Within large-molecule drug discovery, ZhenGe specializes in improving antibody humanization and binding efficiency, which could greatly enhance drug effectiveness.
WuXi AppTec is the runaway leader in China’s pharmaceutical R&D outsourcing space, but service offerings vary across the industry. An increasing number of players have sought to become more integrated, combining contract research organization (CRO) and CDMO functions.
Recent investment activity involving CROs includes a $62 million Series D for Fountain Medical Development, a China-based operator that serves a global client base of drug developers. Meanwhile, Frontage Holdings raised HK$1.61 billion ($205.1 million) in a Hong Kong IPO. It previously received backing from Hillhouse Capital, Ally Bridge Group, Qiming Venture Partners, and OrbiMed.
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