China's LianBio receives $310m round
LianBio, a Chinese biotech start-up incubated earlier this year by life sciences investor Perceptive Advisors, has raised $310 million from a group featuring BlackRock.
The round was led by CMG-SDIC Capital, a joint venture between SDIC Fund Management and China Merchants Capital, along with US investors RA Capital and Venrock.
They were joined by Perceptive and a mix of predominantly US-based firms, including T. Rowe Price Associates, Casdin Capital, Farallon Capital, Pfizer, Tybourne Capital Management, Vida Ventures, Viking Global Investors, and Wellington Management.
LianBio, which describes its business as a “global innovation mining platform,” focuses on helping existing international biotech development products bridge their operations into China and other major Asian markets in exchange for commercial rights. The company will also participate in some clinical development activities.
Early partners include MyoKardia, Navire Pharma, QED Therapeutics, and BridgeBio Pharma, the latter of which offers preferential access to some 20 product candidates. There are currently three projects in LianBio’s pipeline, including a phase-three cardiorenal candidate sourced from MyoKardia and a phase-three oncology therapy from BridgeBio and QED.
“Building on the success and momentum of the company’s recent launch, this financing provides additional support for LianBio’s efforts to contribute to China’s dynamic life sciences landscape by addressing significant unmet medical needs in the region,” Konstantin Poukalov, a managing director at Perceptive and executive chairman of LianBio, said in a statement.
“We are proud of the management team who is rapidly realizing our vision and has proven that partnership, passion, and commitment can help spur the delivery of innovative therapies to the fast-growing biopharma marketplace in China.”
US-based Perceptive claims to manage $7.3 billion of assets across private equity and private credit strategies, with interests in biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health. It was active in China as recently as last month with participation in a $418 million round for drug developer I-Mab Biopharma.
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