China-based cancer immunotherapy producer Abbisko Therapeutics has closed a $123m series D round backed by Lilly Asia Ventures, a regional corporate venturing subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
Investment firm Carlyle Group led the round, which included Temasek, Great Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, Warburg Pincus, OrbiMed, Lake Bleu Capital, Janchor Partners, Sage Partners, SHC, Qiming Venture Partners, Hankang Capital and CICC Capital.
Abbisko was founded in 2016 and is progressing seven cancer treatment candidates leveraging a mixture of small molecule and immunotherapeutic targets, four of which have entered the clinic.
The company has research and development-focused collaboration agreements in place with drug developers including AstraZeneca and X4 Pharmaceuticals. The round brought its total funding to $263m and the cash will go to advancing its drug pipeline.
Lilly Asia Ventures also helped Abbisko close its $70m series C round in March 2020. Temasek led the round, investing alongside GIC, Qiming Venture Partners, Jianxin Capital, CICC Capital and Loyal Valley Capital.
Qiming Venture Partners had led a $42m series B round for the company in early 2019 that was backed by Lilly Asia Ventures, Loyal Valley, TF Capital, CICC Capital and an unnamed sovereign wealth fund.
Abbisko had already secured $28m in a 2017 series A round featuring Lilly Asia Ventures and Sinopharm Capital, which invests on behalf of pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm, in addition to Jianxin Capital and TF Capital.