Antengene, a China-based haematology and oncology drug developer backed by corporates Celgene, Taikang, WuXi AppTec and Tigermed, collected $97m in series C funding yesterday.
Investment and financial services group Fidelity led the round, which included GL Ventures, GIC, Qiming Venture Partners and Boyu Capital along with undisclosed new and existing backers.
Founded in April 2017, Antengene is working on treatments for blood and autoimmune diseases as well as various cancer indications, with a focus on patient needs in China and the Asia Pacific region.
The company formed having signed a licensing agreement with pharmaceutical firm Celgene for a potential treatment targeting advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, non-small-cell lung cancer and gynaecological malignancies. Celgene also made a founding investment in Antengene.
The series C funding will allow Antengene to advance a pipeline of six clinical and six preclinical assets, bolster its research and development capabilities and build out its commercial capacity.
The company raised $120m in a January 2019 series B round backed by Celgene, pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund and insurance firm Taikang. Boyu Capital and FountainVest Partners co-led the round, which also featured Qiming Venture Partners and TF Capital.
Antengene had secured $21m in an August 2017 series A round led by Qiming and backed by TF Capital, HG Capital and Tigermed Investment, a vehicle for biotech research firm Tigermed.
Jay Mei, Antengene’s founder, chairman and chief executive, said: “This is an important milestone to reinforce Antengene’s capabilities to bring cutting-edge therapies to help patients with life-threatening diseases in the Asia Pacific regions and around the world.”
