Shiyu leads $276m round for China's Mabwell Biotech
Mabwell Biotech, a Chinese drug developer with one treatment cleared for production, has raised RMB1.97 billion ($276 million) in Series A funding across two tranches led by specialist healthcare investor Shiyu Capital.
Additional commitments came from Oriental Fortune Capital, Loyal Valley Capital, Haitong Capital, Founder H Fund, Ganzhou Development Investment Fund, Huarong Rongde Asset Management, Golden China Fund, Sincere Capital, Ningbo Gaoling Fund, Suzhou Ruihua Fund, and Nanshan National Fund. The proceeds will go towards continuing R&D efforts.
Mabwell was established in 2017 as the umbrella entity for several existing drug development businesses. The oldest of these, T-Mab Biopharma, was set up in 2008. The founder, Datao Liu, previously led several government R&D programs and was vice president of the research institute at Shanghai Pharma.
The company, which has nine R&D and manufacturing subsidiaries, specializes in large molecule drugs such as therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. It is working on 30 different treatments for tumors, autoimmune diseases, infection resistance, and eye disorders. One autoimmune drug has received new drug application (NDA) approval in China and is expected to go on sale later this year.
Six more treatments are in clinical trials, including four in stage-two or stage-three trials. Mabwell claims these four will go into production in 2023. The company has one production base in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, and another under construction in Shanghai.
Hongbing Yang, chairman of Shiyu, credited Liu and the original investors in Mabwell for their deep understanding of China's pharmaceutical industry. "It is under their leadership that Mabwell has rapidly developed comprehensive capabilities in new variety R&D, pilot testing, large-scale production, domestic and foreign registration and clinical research with strong potential in domestic and foreign sales as well as outstanding capability in industrialization," he said in a statement.
Shiyu has nearly RMB6 billion in assets under management, having closed its second renminbi-denominated fund at RMB3.2 billion last year. Past investments include Wuxi AppTec, CStone Pharmaceuticals, Ascentage Pharma, Lepu Medical, Allist Pharmaceuticals, Double Whale Pharmaceutical, and the healthcare unit of online retailer JD.com.
Biotech is currently 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.
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