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China’s cancer drug developer Ascentage secures $15m

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Ascentage Pharma Group, a Shanghai-based cancer drug developer, has raised a RMB95 million ($15 million) Series A round of funding led by Oriza Seed and YuanMing Capital.

Domestic investors Efung Capital, Yuan Sheng Ventures and Grains Valley Capital also participated. The firm received RMB20 million in seed funding from Hong Kong-listed biotech firm 3SBio in 2010.

Ascentage Pharma spun out from US-based Ascenta Therapeutics and became independent in 2009. The firm focuses on oncology drugs research and development, building on molecules and compounds licensed from the University of Michigan.

The new investment will be used to develop Ascentage's clinical-stage projects, as well as early stage drugs discovery. The company plans to upgrade and expand existing facilities and production infrastructure, it told local media. 

Oriza Seed is an early stage VC unit under Oriza Holdings. It has over RMB1.5 billion in assets under management, focusing on information technology and healthcare sectors.

YuanMing Capital is a healthcare fund focusing on Sino-US cross border investments with offices in Beijing and New York. The firm invests in therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics as well as healthcare service companies. Few weeks ago, it teamed up with Hopu Investments to lead a $200 million round for US-based cancer treatment specialist Mevion Medical Systems.

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