China-based oncology therapy developer Cothera Bioscience has raised almost $30m in a series B round featuring Legend Star, a corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Legend Holdings.
Private equity firm Tsing Song Capital led the round, which included financial services firm China Merchants Bank’s CMB International subsidiary and Legend Capital, the venture capital firm spun off by Legend, as well as Harbinger Venture Capital, Lang Sheng Investment Group and Sherpa Healthcare Partners.
Cothera is developing drugs to target tumours. It oversees an in-vivo and in-vitro drug assessment centre, in addition to cell culture facilities and specific pathogen-free animal laboratories to carry out drug discovery activities.
The company received $5.5m in angel funding from undisclosed investors soon after it was spun out of cancer drug developer Percans Ocology in 2018.
Percans, now a subsidiary of Cothera, had secured $7.3m in a series B round led by Panlin Capital in 2017 that followed $4m in series A capital provided by Legend Star and Legend Capital two years earlier.
