Oncology drug developer MabSpace Biosciences and biotherapeutics developer Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics, both China-based companies backed by pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, have agreed to merge to create a company dubbed Transcenta.
HJB was formed in 2016 by US-based biotherapeutics technology producer Just Biotherapeutics to develop biosimilars and original treatments for conditions including cancer, rare genetic diseases and metabolic disorders by exploiting Just’s J.Design R&D platform.
The company has secured more than $120m in funding to date, most recently closing a $35m series B-plus round in July 2018 backed by Eli Lilly’s local corporate venturing unit Lilly Asia Ventures and insurance provider Taikang Life.
The July round was led by Hillhouse Capital and also featured Arch Venture Partners, BOCGI Zheshang Capital and Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek.
Lilly Asia Ventures and Taikang Life had also backed a $59.7m series B round for JJB in 2017 that was led by Temasek and backed by financial services firm Bank of Hangzhou, Arch and Hangzhou Economic & Technological Development Area.
Lilly Asia Ventures had already invested in the company’s $14m series A2 round in 2016 alongside Just Biotherapeutics, pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co, Arch Venture and philanthropic organisation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which led the round.
MabSpace was founded in 2013 and is working on antibody-based treatments for tumours that have proven resistant to T cell checkpoint monotherapy, a technique that relies on the body’s immune system to fight cancer.
The company closed a $15m series A investment from Lilly Asia Ventures in 2015, adding $40m in a May 2018 series B round led by VC firm Sequoia Capital that included Lilly Asia Ventures and private equity firm King Star Capital.
Transcenta will be led by chief executive Xueming Qian, MabSpace’s founder, chairman and CEO, and executive chairman Jonathan Yining Zhao, the co-founder and chief executive of HJB.
The merged company will have more than 10 candidates in its pipeline and will aim to use its combined resources to reduce costs while accelerating development and commercialisation efforts.
