Harvest leads $50m round for China’s Hua Medicine

Participation by the company's current investors was led by China's Frontline BioVentures. Others included Arch Venture Partners, Venrock, Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital, WuXi Ventures, Sail Venture Partners, Ally Bridge Group and TF Capital, according to a statement.

The new capital - denominated in both US dollars and renminbi - will be used in part to complete clinical trials this year and accelerate the roll-out of an orally administered diabetes drug targeting 422 million patients worldwide.

"With ongoing studies in both Asia and the US, the company is also well positioned to make an impact in the broader international markets," said Raymond Qiu, CEO of Harvest Investments. "This combination of innovation, high-quality standards and an international perspective similar to Harvest's own philosophy is among the key reasons we were delighted to support the company."

Hua's strategy is to leverage cost efficiencies in China's drug development space while partnering or licensing promising drug assets from the US and other foreign markets. This is being pursued with a focus on both diabetes and central nervous system disorders such as stroke. Last year, the company received a $25 million Series B led by Ally Bridge. Eight Roads and F-Prime participated as Fidelity Investments.

Harvest targets investments in healthcare and internet-related fields that are expected to support China's economic transformation. The firm's Harvest Overseas China open-end fund was launched in 2007 and had total net assets of RMB5.1 billion ($$784 million) as of the end of March.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Harvest Fund Management
• Ally Bridge
• Eight Roads