IDG leads $59m Series A for China’s Taichu Biotech
Shanghai Taichu Biotechnology, a China-based outsourced drug developer focused on novel treatments, has raised a serious A of CNY 400m (USD59m) led by IDG Capital.
Other investors include the Shanghai government-backed Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Center Capital, Juntong Capital, Shanghai HealthCare Capital, Boquan Capital, Suzhou Zhongxin Capital, Apricot Capital, Yijing Capital, and NeuX Capital.
The company was founded in 2020 with support from Shanghai Industrial Holdings. Angel and pre-IPO rounds of CNY 300m closed last year, with contributions from TF Capital and Shanghai Lingang Life Blue Bay Fund. The latter was launched by several corporates, including listed contract research organisation (CRO) Tigermed.
Taichu Biotechnology claims to combine non-clinical CRO services and contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) services. Separate subsidiaries focus on druggability evaluation, antibody drug discovery, antibody drug development and production, formulation delivery systems and manufacturing, and small nucleic acid process development and manufacturing.
As biotech investment has slumped in China amid significant corrections in public markets globally, CROs and CDMOs have been regarded as safe havens. This is based on the assumption that revenue streams will remain stable regardless of how effectively a drug is developed and commercialised.
Recent CRO deals include Hillhouse Capital's acquisition of Australia's George Clinical, a CNY 500m Series D for Safe Pharmaceutical Research, and a USD 150m Series E for ClinChoice. CDMOs like IntellectiveBio and Porton Advanced have also raised funding.
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