Drug Farm, a China-headquartered developer of hepatitis B drug treatments, collected $56m on Tuesday in a funding round backed by pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund.
The round included South China Venture Capital as well as fellow private equity firms Detong Capital and BioVeda China Fund, and industrial and financial services investment firm Zhejiang United Investment Group.
Founded in 2015, Drug Farm is using genetics and artificial intelligence technology to develop drugs designed to treat hepatitis B, cancer and autoimmune diseases.
The company’s technology platform is capable of analysing the mutated genes of mice to identify drug targets that provided host immunity. Its lead drug candidate, DF-006, is being developed to treat hepatitis B and other liver diseases.
The funding will be used to initiate human clinical trials for DF-006 and develop the rest of Drug Farm’s product pipeline.
Henri Lichenstein, Drug Farm’s chief executive, said: “HBV infection remains being a big unmet medical need worldwide. Despite the availability of several drugs that can decrease viral load, [a] cure is seldom achieved.
“DF-006 is a new drug to treat HBV; we appreciate the commitment and confidence of Drug Farm’s investors for the financing enabling us to advance our candidate into clinical trials.”