China-based cancer and inflammatory disease therapy developer Harbour BioMed closed an $85m series B round on Sunday that included insurance firm China Life, which invested through China Life Private Equity Investment Company.
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC led the round, which included Legend Capital, the venture capital firm set up by conglomerate Legend Holdings, as well as the Singaporean state-owned Vertex Ventures and fellow VC firm AdvanTech Capital.
Harbour is working on immuno-oncology and inflammatory disease medicines. The series B funds will support the advance of a clinical and development-stage drug pipeline that includes antibody treatments for autoimmune diseases, solid tumours and haematological cancers.
Legend Capital and AdvanTech had both contributed to a $50m series A round for the company in December 2016 when Harbour was formed through the acquisition of Netherlands-based transgenic antibody technology developer Harbour Antibodies.
AdvanTech and asset management firm CDH Investments added an undisclosed amount of series A-plus funding for Harbour in January this year. Its backers also include VC firm Atlas Venture, which carried over its investment in Harbour Antibodies.
Jingsong Wang, Harbour BioMed’s founder, chairman and chief executive, said: “The financing is a very strong vote of confidence by our new and existing investors in our vision for the company, strategy, progress to date and our team.
“With their continued support, we will accelerate the growth and advancement of our pipeline through both internal innovation and external collaboration.”