China ocular drugs developer raises $63m
China’s Neurophth Biotechnology, a gene therapy developer for ocular diseases, has raised a RMB400 million ($63 million) Series C round led by SDIC China Merchants Investment and Sequoia Capital China.
Sunshine Life Insurance and CMB International also participated. The proceeds will be used for a global expansion of core products, development of product pipeline, and bringing manufacturing capability in accordance with the international quality standards.
The company raised a RMB400 million Series B in February led by Guofang Capital and InnoVision Capital, following a RMB130 million Series A led by Fosun Capital Group and Sequoia Capital China last year. An angel round provided by Northern Light Venture Capital, Suzhou Industrial Park, and Shenzhen Miracle Light Venture Capital – the VC arm of genome sequencing company BGI Group – came in 2018.
Headquartered in Wuhan with subsidiaries in Shanghai, Suzhou, and US, Neurophth claims to be China's first gene therapy company for ophthalmic diseases. Its technology is based on an in-house developed adeno-associated virus (AAV) platform. AAV is currently the main viral vector that researchers use for gene therapy because it is considered non-pathogenic to humans and not associated with DNA damage and unpredictable consequences.
The company has five medicines in its pipeline. The most advanced candidate, NR082, is the first of its kind to receive clinical trial approval in China. The first NR082 patient has started the treatment in June. Recent operations developments also include the completion of an international-standard 8,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in Suzhou in September.
"We have been paying close attention to gene therapy for a long time, and we are particularly optimistic about the broad application prospects of AAV in gene therapy, which shows both safety and great clinical potential. Neurophth is a leading player in the gene therapy space in China, one of the few that have succeeded to advance its products to clinical stage,” SDIC China Merchants Investment said in a statement.
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