Lilly Asia Ventures, a regional corporate venturing vehicle for pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has led a $100m funding round for China-based drug developer Dizal Pharmaceutical, DealStreetAsia reported today.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China, Trinity Innovation Fund and Wuxi NewForce Fund also took part in the round.
Dizal’s pipeline includes proposed treatments for solid and liquid tumours, such as non-small-cell lung carcinoma, in addition to autoimmune conditions and chronic kidney disease.
The company was set up as a joint venture by US-headquartered pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and the Chinese Future Industry Investment Fund in 2017. DealStreetAsia also identified Zytz Partners as a co-founder this week.
The capital will be used to open Dizal’s headquarters in Wuxi City as well as driving research, operations, manufacturing and sales and distribution activities.
Xiaolin Zhang, chief executive of Dizal, said in a statement quoted by DealStreetAsia: “We will further expedite our drug R&D and facilitate business strategy. We will join hands to support the enhancement of the biomedicine industry in Wuxi.”
Dizal had previously raised an undisclosed amount from Xintou Group, a unit of Wuxi New District Investment Group, in July 2019 according to DealStreetAsia. It also established a subsidiary in Beijing with $2.2m in funding, the same report stated.
