China-based biotechnology company Ascletis has closed a RMB 220m ($35m) series B round led by venture capital fund C-Bridge Capital that included drug developer Tasly Pharmaceutical and Pavilion Capital.
Founded in 2011, Ascletis is working on treatments for hepatitis C. The company successfully completed a Phase 2 clinical trial in Taiwan earlier this year and has filed an application with regulator China Food and Drug Administration to launch a Phase 2 trial in China.
Ascletis also has a treatment for liver cancer and a therapy for HIV in its pipeline. The money will enable it to further expand its pipeline, increase its development capabilities and strengthen its good manufacturing practice, a regulatory requirement for investigational drugs.
Private equity firm Hangzhou Binjiang Investment led a $100m series A round for Ascletis in 2011 that also included a range of unnamed angel investors.