Quan leads $80m Series A for China biotech player

3H Health Investment and Wu Capital also participated alongside the three founding investors. It comes as new regulations in China allow orphan drugs to be approved using overseas clinical data. These drugs, which target diseases too rare to be major economic prospects, are Citrine’s core focus.

“F-Prime Capital is a strong believer and long-time investor in companies developing drugs for orphan disease patients in need,” Chong Xu, a principal at F-Prime, said in a statement. “We helped found Citrine because we were excited about the potential for the company to significantly improve the lives of patients and families in China affected by rare diseases.”

Citrine aims to create China’s first rare disease therapy development platform. This effort will leverage the resources of Eight Roads’ global network, which includes biotech interests in China, the US, Canada, the UK, India, Japan, and Singapore. Quan said it would contribute local operational resources and support product partnerships from overseas. 

Quon was founded in 2017 by Samantha Du, the founder of US-listed Chinese drug developer Zai Lab, and raised its debut fund the same year with $150 million in commitments. A follow-up fund closed at $275 million last year with a mandate that includes precision medicine.

Eight Roads, formerly known as Fidelity Growth Partners, spun out from Fidelity International last year. It often invests alongside its sister entity F-Prime, formerly Fidelity Biosciences, which is also backed by Fidelity. Vivo is a US and China-focused healthcare investor. Last year, it closed its ninth PE fund on $1.3 billion.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Early-stage
• China
• Eight Roads
• Fidelity
• Vivo Ventures
• Wu Capital
• Pharmaceuticals