Sequoia leads $30m round for China's Atom Bioscience

Other investors include Kaitai Capital and Fortune Caizhi Venture Capital. The proceeds will be used to advance the global phase-two clinical trials of a treatment for gout. Phase-one trials have already been completed in the US. The company claims that, under a low dose of medication, its drug efficacy has obvious advantages over existing treatments in the market.

Dongfang Shi, Atom's founder, chairman and CEO, noted in a statement that global breakthroughs in gout treatment are relatively infrequent.

Atom is also working on drugs that target non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gastric cancer, and colon cancer. These are about to enter pre-clinical or clinical stages. The company is one of relatively few drug developers in China with US clinical data to support its work.

According to AVCJ Research, the company received RMB150 million in Series A funding from Kaitai and Livzon in January. 

Biotech is presently one of the more robust areas for private equity and venture capital investment in China. Nearly $850 million has been committed across more than 30 deals so far this year, compared to $1.2 billion across approximately 80 transactions for the full 12 months of 2019.

Recent activity includes a $69 million Series D for Adagene, which has one cancer treatment in phase-one trials in China and the US, a $100 million round for RemeGene, and a RMB1.13 billion ($159 million) Series C for Beijing Mabworks Biotech, which develops antibodies that target cancer. There have also been several IPOs, including Akeso Biopharma in Hong Kong. 

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Healthcare
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Sequoia Capital