Chinese biopharmaceutical company CANbridge Life Sciences has raised US$25 million in a series B round from lead investor Lapam Capital, a Beijing-based life science venture capital firm.
Existing investor Qiming Venture Partners and new investors, Yuanming Capital, Yanyuan Capital, Biossom Investment Management and Wuxi App Tec, also participated in the round, the company announced today.
Founded in 2012, Beijing-based CANbridge is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing Western drug candidates in China and North Asia.
"These funds will bolster CANbridge’s financial position and strategy to build a pipeline of leading candidates in solid-tumor oncology in China," said James Xue, PhD, CANbridge's chairman and CEO. "It enables us to advance our clinical trial program in our two lead candidates, CAN008 and CAN017, in China, where we hope to address the serious needs of patients with glioblastoma multiforme and esophageal squamous cell cancer, diseases with almost no effective treatment options."
CANbridge will use the proceeds to fund the clinical trial development of CAN008 and CAN017, in China. Another drug, a fully-human fusion onco-immunotherapy named xs CAN008, is currently in a Phase I/II trial for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme in Taiwan.
The company plans to initiate a Phase II CAN008 GBM trial in China in 2018. CAN017, an antibody inhibitory onco-immunotherpy, will target esophageal squamous cell cancer, the prevalent form of esophageal cancer in Asia.
CANbridge has to date raised a total of over US$40 million, and has plans for additional strategic transactions in 2017. In 2014, CANbridge completed a US$10 million series A financing from Qiming Venture Partners and TF Capital, a venture fund started by a Chinese contract research organization, and Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting Co.