The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Jan 2024

On February 24, 2021, 依生生物制药有限公司 announced completion of a Series B financing of more than $130 million. The round was co‑led by Oceanpine Capital (海松资本) and OrbiMed (奥博资本). Following the transaction, the company's institutional investor base included Oceanpine, OrbiMed, 斯道资本, F‑Prime Capital, 3W Capital, 高瓴资本, Adjuvant Capital, 和玉资本, AIHC, 益普资本, Superstring Capital and 海通国际. 易凯资本 served as the company's exclusive financial adviser on the deal. The financing expanded the company's investor roster and represents a significant recapitalization event at the B‑round stage. No additional product, operational or use‑of‑proceeds details for the company were provided in the articles.

Participated · Series B · Mar 2023

ArriVent Biopharma focuses on accelerating the global development of innovative biopharmaceutical products with an initial focus in oncology. Its lead product candidate, furmonertinib, is a highly brain-penetrant, mutant-specific EGFR kinase inhibitor. The company uses a deep and global network to access drug candidates at various development stages, including those from China and other emerging biotech hubs. ArriVent pursues strategic collaborations to globalize medicines for patients with unmet medical need across a broad range of diseases. Following a $155M Series B, the company intends to use proceeds to support pivotal Phase 3 and additional studies of furmonertinib and to fund future pipeline expansion. The company is led by CEO Bing Yao and added board appointees in conjunction with the financing. ArriVent Biopharma identifies therapeutics developed in China and other emerging biotech hubs and in-licenses ex-China rights to develop them for U.S., EU and other markets. Its current pipeline anchor is furmonertinib, an EGFR TKI recently approved in China for NSCLC, which ArriVent secured ex-China rights to from Allist Pharma. The company plans to submit an IND this year to study furmonertinib in EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients in the U.S. ArriVent aims to repeat the furmonertinib blueprint by seeking additional validated assets to expand its pipeline. Leadership includes CEO Bing Yao and co-founder/chief medical officer Stuart Lutzker, who will work to gather the clinical data needed for Western development. Financially, ArriVent has secured up to $150 million to fund these activities, including $90 million upfront and up to $60 million contingent on milestones.

Participated · Series B · Mar 2022

InxMed is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Nanjing that develops therapies targeting the stromal microenvironment to overcome solid tumor resistance and metastasis. Founded at the end of 2018 and led by CEO Dr. Zaiqi Wang, the company focuses particularly on addressing anti‑PD‑1/PD‑L1 treatment resistance. Its lead asset, IN10018, is a potent and highly selective ATP‑competitive FAK inhibitor for which InxMed holds exclusive global development and commercial rights. IN10018 received FDA fast track designation in August 2021 and a breakthrough designation from China’s NMPA for the treatment of platinum‑resistant ovarian cancer. InxMed plans to use the $15M raised in a Series B+ to accelerate ongoing clinical trials in the US and China, initiate pivotal trials in the second half year, advance additional stroma‑targeting programs into clinics, and strengthen R&D capabilities in Nanjing. The company has established partnerships with multinational pharmaceutical companies including Merck, Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim and intends to disclose more IN10018 data at ASCO in June 2022. InxMed Co., Ltd is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Nanjing, China, focused on therapies that target the stromal microenvironment and drug resistance in hard-to-treat solid tumors. Its lead asset, IN10018, is a potent, selective ATP-competitive focal adhesion kinase (FAK) small-molecule inhibitor with ongoing trials in NRAS mutant metastatic melanoma, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Fast Track designation to IN10018 for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in August 2021 based on preliminary efficacy. The company says it will use the $50M Series B proceeds to accelerate IN10018 clinical trials in both the U.S. and China, including initiation of pivotal trials, and to advance additional stroma-targeting programs into the clinic this year. InxMed has built translational medicine and clinical development teams across Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, the United States, Canada, and Australia, and has partnerships with Merck, Roche, and Boehringer Ingelheim. The company is led by founder and CEO Dr. Zaiqi Wang and will strengthen R&D capabilities in Nanjing with the new funding. InxMed is a Nanjing-based biotech focused on developing FAK inhibitors. The company is advancing a program toward Phase I development of a FAK inhibitor. Nearly a year after securing its first IND approval, InxMed raised new capital to support clinical progress. The company completed a ¥130 million (about $19 million) Series A+ financing. Proceeds from the raise are intended to fund the Phase I FAK inhibitor program. Zaiqi Wang is named as CEO.

Participated · Series C · Aug 2021

MediTrust is a Shanghai-based private healthcare payor founded in 2017 and led by founder and CEO Seth Zhang. It leverages proprietary integrated platforms to serve healthcare and insurance companies, delivering comprehensive healthcare products and services aimed at lowering medical costs. A core service, Care2Pay, partners with more than 50 pharmaceutical and insurance companies and over 2,000 DTP pharmacies, with national coverage in over 400 cities. Care2Pay enables millions of patients with cancer, chronic, and rare diseases to access innovative drugs more affordably; in the first half of 2021 it helped patients and families save over RMB300 million in healthcare expenditures. MediTrust also collaborates with insurers to launch municipal health insurance products in more than 40 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and has been instrumental in Shanghai’s Huhuibao coverage expansion.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2021

OnCusp Therapeutics is a biopharma company focused on translating preclinical oncology innovation into clinically validated treatments. Its lead asset, CUSP06, is a CDH6‑targeting antibody‑drug conjugate with preclinical data showing increased potency, bystander effect, linker stability, and potential to overcome drug resistance. CUSP06 obtained FDA IND clearance in 3Q 2023 and is planned for a first‑in‑human Phase I study in the U.S. The company secured an oversubscribed $100 million Series A to advance CUSP06 toward clinical proof‑of‑concept and to expand its portfolio and team. OnCusp has global rights (outside China) to CUSP06 from Multitude Therapeutics and lists WuXi XDC as the CMC partner for the program. Since its establishment in April 2021, OnCusp has raised $139 million in total. OnCusp focuses on advancing preclinical oncology candidates—including bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and small molecules—toward clinical proof-of-concept. The company in-licenses preclinical drug candidates from the U.S., China and other regions and advances them into global early clinical development. OnCusp aims to out-license assets to multinational pharmaceutical companies after establishing clinical POC. The founding team has deep experience in business development and oncology translational and clinical development. The company opened operations in New York and Shanghai and is building a portfolio of high-potential oncology assets. OnCusp completed a $25 million seed financing to support pipeline development, R&D programs, day-to-day operations, and talent acquisition.