China-based ocular disease drug developer Arctic Vision closed a series B round featuring internet group Tencent and real estate developer Nan Fung at over $100m on Tuesday.
Private equity firm Loyal Valley Capital led the round, which included Octagon Capital, 5Y Capital and private investor Adrian Cheng. Nan Fung invested through its Nan Fung Life Sciences subsidiary and its Pivotal BioVenture Partners China fund.
Arctic Vision is working on therapeutics intended to address unmet medical needs in ophthalmology.
The startup has licensed drug candidates for uveitic macular oedema, paediatric progressive myopia and presbyopia but will put some of the funding into establishing in-house research and development resources in addition to bringing selected candidates into clinical trials.
The company was incubated by Nan Fung Life Sciences and Pivotal BioVenture Partners China in 2019 and both contributed to a $32m series A round in July 2020 led by 5Y Capital (then still known as Morningside Venture Capital).
Dianna Qian, partner at Pivotal BioVenture Partners China, said: “In just less than a year, the clinical development of the company’s pipeline assets has advanced in a structured and rapid manner; the product portfolio has also expanded steadily, demonstrating the strong execution capabilities of the management team.
“In the upcoming year, we look forward to seeing the company achieve more opportunities to internationalise, scale up organisational presence and gradually become a model in the ophthalmology sector, within China and even across Asia.”