Tencent is also involved in the development of new drugs.
It is learned that Suzhou Kewang Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Kewang Pharmaceutical) Completed US $ 100 million in Series B financing. This round of financing was led by Huiding Medical Investment. Tencent, Gotejia Investment, Deyi Capital, Yuanhe Holdings, Juming Venture Capital, Shengshan Assets, Parkway Global and other joint participants. Investors Eli Lilly Asia Fund, Goldman Capital and CDH Investment continued to increase their holdings.
It is reported that this round of financing will be mainly used to advance the preclinical development and clinical trials of several projects in the R & D pipeline of Kewang Pharmaceutical. In addition, the company will use the funds raised to discover new immunotherapy mechanisms, expand global cooperation, and further expand existing product pipelines. Not long ago, Kewang Pharmaceutical signed a syndicated loan contract with a total amount of 150 million yuan in Suzhou with Bank of China Suzhou Industrial Park Branch and Agricultural Bank of China Suzhou Industrial Park Branch in Suzhou. Construction of production bases.
Kewang Bio is a clinical-stage biomedical innovation company, focusing on tumor immunotherapy, and adopts a dual-drive model of “independent research and development + product introduction”. It currently has multiple product pipelines, covering a wide range New targets for current immunotherapy, and focus on new drug development in the areas of natural immunity and tumor microenvironment. These include ES101, the world’s first innovative drug, which has now entered the clinical trial stage; in addition, there are more than 10 preclinical pipelines.
All along, the increase in tumor morbidity and mortality has also promoted the innovation of anti-tumor treatment technology in China. In addition to surgery, tumor treatment technology has undergone three revolutions, the first is chemotherapy and radiotherapy drugs, the second is targeted drugs, and the third is immunotherapy. Compared with other treatment methods, immunotherapy has a very significant effect on indications, has small toxic and side effects, prevents tumor recurrence and metastasis, and has obvious effects on patients with advanced cancer, so the market is growing rapidly.
Data shows that the global immunotherapy market size will grow from US $ 61.9 billion in 2016 to US $ 119.39 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.0%. With the support of national policies, the number of Chinese tumor immunotherapy R & D companies has been increasing. There were only 22 R & D companies in 2008 and 90 in 2016. By 2021, its market is expected to exceed 25 billion. The market’s potential for gold absorption has allowed the giants to return. The difference of Kewang Pharmaceutical is that, When a large number of companies are pushing the development of the field of acquired immunity, it has already made a key systematic layout around natural immunity in advance.
In terms of team, Kewang Pharmaceutical’s CEO Ji Xiaohui received a doctorate in clinical medicine from China Medical University, a doctorate in molecular biology and bioengineering from the University of Sheffield, an MBA from Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and a former Roche vice president President, has led Roche’s business development, product introduction and mergers and acquisitions in Asia and developing markets. He has also been the head of business development for P & G Pharmaceuticals in East Asia.
Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Lu Hongtao received his Ph.D. from Cleveland Medical Center. His postdoctoral trainer is Richard A. Flavelle, member of the American Academy of Sciences and director of the Department of Immunology at Yale Medical School. He successively served as R & D executive at Zaiding Pharmaceutical, GlaxoSmithKline and other companies.
Investor perspective
Holding Medical Investment Management Partner Dr. He Xin said:
Tumor immunity is one of the areas that Huiding focuses on, and has been deeply covered in this area in the past two years. Huiding Medical Investment values the team’s international cooperation capabilities, independent research and development capabilities and strong execution in the field of tumor immunity. Based on a deep understanding of the overall biological mechanism in the field of immunology, Kewang has focused on the frontier targets of international innovation, established an efficient international new drug development system, and cooperated with top international academics and industries to accelerate the development and clinical advancement of innovative drugs.
Tumor immunity is one of the areas that Huiding focuses on, and has been deeply covered in this area in the past two years. Huiding Medical Investment values the team’s international cooperation capabilities, independent research and development capabilities and strong execution in the field of tumor immunity. Based on a deep understanding of the overall biological mechanism in the field of immunology, Kewang has focused on the frontier targets of international innovation, established an efficient international new drug development system, and cooperated with top international academics and industries to accelerate the development and clinical advancement of innovative drugs.