China CRO player raises $50m to support US merger
DMed-Clinipace, a global contract research organization (CRO) with a presence in China, has raised $50 million in an extended Series C round led by Springhill Fund. Rock Springs Capital and Superstring Capital also took part.
The company is the product of a recent merger of China’s dMed Global and US-based Clinipace. The new funding has helped finance that transaction.
Springhill Fund is a public equities unit under Qiming Venture Partners, which has raised $500 million for an open-ended investment vehicle. It targets listed healthcare companies across China and the wider Asia region. Asked why Springhill was going into private deals as well, a source close to the situation told AVCJ there is a small allocation for crossover rounds.
DMed-Clinipace is a full-service CRO with more than 1,700 staff in 22 offices across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific, including over 700 staff in China. It specializes in oncology and rare diseases, covering clinical development, regulatory, pharmacovigilance and clinical analytics. The company has additional competencies in gastroenterology, nephrology, and women's health.
Qiming was the earliest investor in dMed, leading an angel round not long after the company was founded in 2015. According to AVCJ Research, a Series A of RMB55 million ($7.9 million) closed in late 2016, led by Qiming and featuring Tairui Investment and Zai Lab. Quan Capital, a VC firm established by Zai Lab’s founder, also invested in dMed, but it exited at an unspecified time.
The $50 million Series B came in 2019, with Vivo Capital and Legend Capital in the lead. Qiming and Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) also took part. Fidelity led the first tranche of the Series C last December. The $100 million round featured Sequoia Capital China, E Fund Management, Qiming, LAV, and Vivo.
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 CRO and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) functions.
CMDO players VMS Group, Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals, and Zhenge Biotech have received funding this year, as well as CRO specialist Yaoyanshe. Another CRO group, Frontage Holdings, went public in Hong Kong last year. Qiming is an investor in Zhenge and Frontage.
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