SDIC leads $97m Series A for China's Pyrotech Therapeutics
China-based Pyrotech Therapeutics, which develops treatments for inflammation and tumours, has raised a Series A of CNY 700m (USD 97m) led by state-owned investor SDIC Venture Capital.
Other participants include China State-Owned Venture Capital Fund, Taiping Healthcare Fund, China Life Science & Innovation Fund, and Tsinghua University-backed Lotus Lake Capital, according to a statement.
The company secured angel funding from the likes of MSA Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, FreesFund, BioTrack Capital, and Greenwaters Fund in 2021. All re-upped in the Series A. Total funding to date now amounts to more than CNY 1bn.
Pyrotech was founded in October 2020 by Feng Shao, formerly of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tianjing Deng, previously CEO of BioDuro, a contract research organisation (CRO) with operations in the US and China. Advent International acquired a majority stake in BioDuro in 2019.
Jenny Zeng, founding partner of MSA, has described Pyrotech as one of China's first homegrown first-in-class drug developers.
The company has an R&D team of more than 100 working out of centres in Beijing, Shanghai, and the US. It is working on small-molecule treatments for inflammation and tumours, with two key assets expected to enter clinical trials next year.
Pyrotech claims to have made breakthroughs around the innate immune system, specifically the use of inflammation - one of the immune system's first responses to infection - to target cancer. For example, it is exploring pyroptosis inhibitors that can trigger inflammation-associated programmed cell death, killing tumour cells.
Responding to the Series A, Zeng noted that Pyrotech's R&D has advanced beyond expectations over the past two years.
Feng Li, a founding partner at FreesFund, added: "Since its inception, relying on solid and efficient scientific achievements and a clear strategy for disease transformation, Pyrotech has rapidly established itself as a world-leading scientific platform in the fields of innate immunity and tumour immunity."
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