China drug development outsourcer raises $70m

CMB International, Lyfe Capital, and GT Capital are among the re-upping investors, according to a statement. They are joined by several government-related investment entities, such as Shanghai Financial Development Investment Fund, a Chinese Academy of Sciences fund, and Shanghai International Group's Guofang Capital.

Lyfe led a $51 million Series A in March 2020 and Zhenge claims to have raised $125 million in total funding to date. The new capital will go towards the construction of a commercial production base in the Shanghai Free Trade Pilot Zone.

Established in 2017, Zhenge provides CMC (chemistry, manufacturing, and control) services to pharmaceutical companies. It has completed more than 100 projects, serving 80 corporate customers. Drug types covered include monoclonal antibodies, bispecific monoclonal antibodies, antibody-conjugated drugs (ADC), fusion proteins, and vaccines.

More than 90% of drugs currently available are small-molecule treatments, but large-molecule products, also known as biologics, are rising in popularity and importance. Biologics research has been at the forefront of development in recent years. Large-molecule drugs are classified as proteins and more difficult to develop than small molecules, which are identical and easy to manufacture.

WuXi AppTec is the runaway leader in China’s pharmaceutical R&D outsourcing space, but service offerings vary across the industry. An increasing number of players have sought to become more integrated, combining contract research organization (CRO) and CDMO functions.

Earlier this month, CDMO player Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals received a RMB400 million ($61 million) Series C round, while Yaoyanshe, a CRO targeting novel drugs, raised RMB600 million across two rounds last year. Frontage Holdings, another CRO player, raised HK$1.61 billion ($205.1 million) in a Hong Kong IPO last year. Qiming is among its backers.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Early-stage
• Healthcare
• Greater China
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Qiming Venture Partners
• IDG capital
• Lyfe Capital