Pharmaceutical company Livzon Pharmaceutical Group has co-led a $30m series B round for China-based metabolic disease drug developer Atom Bioscience with venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China.
The round also featured investment management firm Kaitai Capital and Shenzhen Dachen Caizhi Fortune VC, an investment platform owned by VC firm Fortune Capital.
Livzon paid approximately $10m for a 7.8% stake in Atom according to DealStreetAsia, which cited a stock exchange filing in January this year. It invested in the round through subsidiary Zhuhai Livzon Pharmaceutical Equity Investment Management.
Formally known as Jiangsu Atom Bioscience & Pharmaceutical, Atom is developing treatments for gout, gastric and colon cancer, and a type of liver disease known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
The series B cash will primarily be used to complete a phase 2 clinical trial for the company’s lead drug candidate, ABP-671, which is being developed to treat gout, in addition to follow-on trials in the US and China.
Additional proceeds will support preclinical and early clinical trials for two other product candidates, in NASH and gastric cancer respectively.
The round brought Atom’s overall funding to $42m, the company said. It named Kaitai Capital as an early investor along with private equity firm YouChoose Capital and investment firm Ch-gemstone Capital.
