Clover Biopharmaceuticals, a China-based biologic cancer treatment developer backed by livestock feed provider Jinlong Group, has received $230m in series C funding.
GL Ventures, the venture capital vehicle for hedge fund manager Hillhouse Capital, co-led the round with Singaporean government-owned investment firm Temasek, and it included Delos Capital, Oceanpine Capital and OrbiMed.
Founded in 2016, Clover is developing vaccines and therapies made from biological sources in a bid to treat disease including cancer and autoimmune disorders. Its team includes more than 500 scientists, industry specialists and advisers.
The company will use the money to improve its drug discovery technology, dubbed Trimer-Tag, as well as adding new products, boosting research and development efforts and enhancing its commercial biomanufacturing capacity.
The deal took funding raised by the company in the past year to more than RMB2.5bn ($387m at current rates). It had most recently closed a $24m series B-2 round in June 2020 featuring GL Ventures that lifted its total funding at the time to more than $140m.
Jinlong Group had taken part in a $43m series B round for Clover seven months earlier that was co-led by Delos Capital and Lapam Capital and backed by Betta Capital, Sichuan Health Care Industry Fund and Beijing Zhongguancun VC. The transaction came after Tianhe Life Sciences Venture Fund led its $9.5m series A round in 2017.
