Lilly Asia Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has led a pre-series B round for China-based genomic medicine developer EdiGene sized at approximately $15m.
Private equity firm Huagai Capital, venture capital group IDG Capital and VC firm WI Harper Group also contributed to the round along with undisclosed insiders. EdiGene has not revealed details of its series A round but said it included IDG and WI Harper.
Founded in 2015, EdiGene is working on medical treatments for genetic diseases and cancer that utilise genome editing technology. It will use the funding to further develop its drug pipeline and core High Throughput Genome Screening technology.
Fei Chen, managing partner of Lilly Asia Ventures, said: “Gene editing is bringing evolutional breakthrough to drug discovery and potential clinical therapeutics, and we are pleased to collaborate with EdiGene team and to support EdiGene’s growth in the global market.”
EdiGene is not to be confused with EdiGENE Corporation, the Japan-based company developing drugs based on Crispr gene editing technology and protein engineering platforms that address unmet medical needs.