AAA China Life buys into Biocytogen in $77m round

China Life buys into Biocytogen in $77m round

China-based biomedical research technology provider Biocytogen closed a RMB543m ($77m) series D round on Thursday that was co-led by a private equity fund owned by insurance firm China Life.

China Life Healthcare Fund co-led the round with SDIC Venture Capital, a fund management subsidiary of state-owned investment holding group State Development and Investment Corp (SDIC).

The round also featured financial services firm China Merchants Bank’s CMB International unit, venture capital firm 3E Bioventures Capital and the management team of Biocytogen.

Founded in 2009, Biocytogen is developing a cancer drug discovery platform based on gene modified animal model production. Its RenMab Mouse platform is intended to produce fully human antibodies directly from mice.

The company will put the funding toward expanding into additional markets, accelerating product development, enhancing its services and increasing its production capacity.

CMB International led an April 2018 series C round for Biocytogen sized at $65m according to China Money Network, investing alongside SDIC Venture Capital Management, 3E Bioventures, Cowin Capital and Oriza Holdings.

Biocytogen had previously raised an undisclosed amount in a series B round led by China Gaoxin Investment Group Corp in 2015 that followed a 2012 series A round backed by BioVeda China.

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