China-based cancer drug developer Abbisko Therapeutics has secured $28m in a series A round featuring Lilly Asia Ventures, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, FierceBiotech reported on Wednesday.
Sinopharm Capital, the medical and healthcare-focused private equity arm of pharmaceuticals distributor Sinopharm, also took part in the round along with investment firms Jianxin Capital and TF Capital.
Founded in May 2016, Abbisko is developing immuno-oncology therapies, focusing on small molecule drugs that will treat the cancers that are most widespread in Asia. Those include gastric cancers, which occur less frequently in western countries and currently lack treatment options.
The series A capital will be used to boost Abbisko’s R&D capabilities as it develops three cancer-fighting drugs that are still at the preclinical stage. Abbisko’s most advanced drug candidate, ABSK001, has reached the lead optimisation stage, according to the company’s website.
Yaochang Xu, founder and CEO of Abbisko, spent more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical sector, including more than 12 years at Eli Lilly where he was head of chemistry, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Xu was executive director of medicinal chemistry at drug producer Novartis’s biomedical research centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and most recently served as general manager at drug manufacturer Hansoh Pharmaceutical’s BioMedical R&D Centre in Shanghai.
Abbisko is located in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, an innovation hub in Shanghai where there is a cluster of contract research and contract manufacturing organisations serving the pharmaceutical industry.