Chinese vision therapy start-up Elumninex raises $50m

The proceeds will go towards building a pipeline of treatments that address critical unmet medical needs in terms of vision-threatening conditions, according to Jinzhong Zhang, the company's co-founder, chairman, and CEO.

Zhang launched Eluminex in February alongside Zhenze Hu and LAV. The company is assembling a top-tier management team, with recent hires including Charles Semba, the former chief medical officer at SARcode Bioscience. He will take on the same role at Eluminex. The company is also recruited ophthalmology professors from Stanford University, Xiamen University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to its scientific advisory board. 

“We are truly impressed by the stellar management team,” said Marietta Wu, a managing director of Quan. "We believe this team of seasoned industry veterans both globally and in China will build a leader in ophthalmology with accelerated development of novel therapeutics."

Quan was founded in 2017 by Samantha Du, the founder of US-listed Chinese drug developer Zai Lab. The firm closed its second fund at $275 million last year with a mandate that includes precision medicine.

Eluminex is headquartered in Suzhou Industrial Park, which is also home to its R&D center. The company has a business center in Shanghai and plans to establish a global clinical and registration facility in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Driven by an aging population and overuse of eyes in various ages, the ophthalmic market is seeing huge unmet needs for new products. The team’s solid track record and rich experience in ophthalmic drug development enables the company to develop innovative therapies not only for China but for the global market,” said Stephen Lin, a partner at LAV.

Other investment activity in this space includes a $32 million Series A for Arctic Vision, an ophthalmology therapy start-up that was previously incubated by Nan Fung Life Sciences under Hong Kong-based Nan Fung Group and Pivotal BioVenture Partners China. 

Meanwhile, in October, Hong Kong-based Zhaoke Ophthalmology Pharmaceutical (ZKO), a subsidiary of Lee’s Pharmaceutical, raised a $145 million Series B round led by Hillhouse Capital and TPG Asia. ZKO licenses global ophthalmology products for distribution in China.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Healthcare
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• Lilly Asia Ventures
• Quan Capital