China-based mRNA vaccine developer Suzhou Abogen Biosciences has received up to $300m in a series C-plus round co-led by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund, DealStreetAsia reported today, citing a company statement.
Venture capital firm 5Y Capital co-led the round, which included real estate developer Royal Group’s Chimera Abu Dhabi subsidiary, financial services group Mirae Asset, IMO Ventures, Fortune Ocean and Jinyi Capital.
Abogen has created an messenger RNA technology platform it uses to develop vaccines, and will put the funding into advancing clinical testing of potential vaccines for the covid-19 coronavirus.
Joanne Xu, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages the firm’s Vision Funds, said in a statement cited by DealStreetAsia: “mRNA technology represents a major breakthrough in biotech in recent years.
“Its value has been validated by the application to covid-19 vaccines. We believe that Abogen is not only a pioneer in mRNA technology, but also made tremendous improvement in its covid-19 vaccine.”
The company closed its $26m series A round in November 2020 with funding from vaccine producer Chengdu Kanghua Biotechnology, Hillhouse Capital’s GL Ventures fund and the Chinese State Development and Investment Corp’s SDIC Venture Capital vehicle.
Abogen added up to $92m in series B funding from SDIC Venture Capital, PICC Capital, Yunfeng Capital, Lyfe Capital, Highlight Capital, GL Ventures and fellow existing investors TF Capital and Ming Bioventures in April this year.
Lilly Asia Ventures, a representative of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, co-led the company’s $700m series C round four months later with Temasek, Invesco Developing Markets Fund, Loyal Valley Capital, GL Ventures, Yunfeng Capital and Boyu Capital, investing with unnamed new and existing shareholders.
