China's CARsgen raises $186m Series C

Lilly Asia Ventures, Shiyu Capital, and Summer Capital came in as new investors, while existing backers South China Venture Capital re-upped.

Founded in 2014, CARsgen focuses on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapeutics used in immunotherapy to treat cancer. CAR-T cells are genetically engineered T cells developed by extracting immune cells from a patient, modifying them, and then returning them to the host to attack tumors. 

The company is based in Shanghai and has operations in China and the US. Its pipeline currently contains more than 11 CAR T-cell candidates. Five of these have received investigational new drug (IND) clearance from regulators in China and the US.

CARsgen raised $60 million in pre-Series C funding from Photon Fund in 2018. This followed a $30 million Series B in 2016 led by KTB Ventures, the VC arm of South Korea's KTB Investment and Securities, and Jolly Innovation Ventures. BVCF led the company's Series A round in 2014.

Last week, another Chinese CAR-T cell specialist, Gracell Biotechnologies, received $100 million in Series C funding. The company is working on products intended to make CAR-T cell drug development cheaper, faster and more effective against solid tumors. It is also building a pipeline of treatments based on these technologies.

Other recent investments in the space include a $100 million Series B for JW Therapeutics, which is developing CAR-T treatments for blood cancers.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Loyal Valley Capital
• Lilly Asia Ventures
• KTB Securities
• BVCF