Insurance group Ping An led a $124m series C round for Apollomics, a US-based developer of oncology combination therapeutics, on Friday through corporate venturing unit Ping An Capital.
The round also featured undisclosed existing and new investors and it increased the company’s funding to about $239m since it was founded in 2016 as CBT Pharmaceuticals.
Spun off by contract research organisation Crown Bioscience International, Apollomics is working on immuno-oncology drugs intended to fight cancer in combination with other therapeutics.
The company’s product pipeline includes a candidate called PL-101, which is in the second half of a phase 1/2 clinical trial for conditions such as non-small cell lung cancer and solid tumours, and APL-106, which has completed a phase 1/2 trial for acute myeloid leukemia.
China Merchants Bank subsidiary CMB International led Apollomics’ last round, a $100m series B in January 2019 that also featured OrbiMed Asia, the subsidiary of life sciences investment firm OrbiMed that incubated the company, as well as unnamed new investors.
Crown Bioscience had supplied $5m in seed capital for the company before OrbiMed Asia led its $9.75m series A round in 2016.
Guo-Liang Yu, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apollomics, said: “Apollomics is focused on a precision medicine approach that targets specific mutations, amplifications and resistance mechanisms to bring transformative therapies to cancer patients.
“We appreciate the profound level of support and interest we received during this financing and welcome several new investors to our shareholder base. With this infusion of capital, we will continue our ambitious plans to progress our current pipeline and expand our programs globally.”
