Baidu Ventures, a subsidiary of internet company Baidu, took part in a $75m series C round for China-based immuno-oncology therapeutics developer GenFleet Therapeutics on Friday, representing the unit’s latest biotechnology deal.
Private equity firm Huagai Capital led the round, which included Suxin Venture Capital, Cherami Investment Group, ABC International, Dyee Capital, Qiaojing Eastern Investment, Wenzhou Capital, Lake Bleu Capital, Panlin Capital, HM Capital, Shanjin Asset and CDH Venture and Growth Capital.
Founded in 2017, GenFleet is developing small molecule and biologic therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease treatments. It has a pipeline of more than 10 product candidates, several of which are undergoing clinical trials, with commercialisation expected in the next three to five years.
The company closed a $57.7m series B round in early 2020 co-led by CDH Investments and Shenzhen Capital Group and backed by Sinopharm Capital, part of pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm, as well as South China Venture Capital, Panlin Capital, Lake Bleu Capital and HighLight Capital.
Ally Bridge Group had led GenFleet’s $17.4m series A two years earlier, investing with Sinopharm Capital, pharmaceutical firm CSPC, HighLight Capital, Qianlong Yuhan and TF Capital, the last three identified as earlier backers. It had received roughly $14m in a round led by HighLight Capital earlier the same year.
Baidu Ventures had already joined clinical services group Tigermed to co-lead a November 2021 series B round of undisclosed size for China-based oncology therapeutics developer JS InnoPharm that also featured Jiuyo Capital, Efung Capital and Ming Bioventures.
Earlier the same month, Baidu Ventures had joined Huaying Venture Capital and Innoval Capital to provide tens of millions of yuan (RMB10m = $1.6m) for China-based ear, nose and throat treatment product provider Breath Medical.
Genome sequencing platform developer Geneplus Technology, molecular analytics technology provider Insilico Medicine and Nutshell Therapeutics, another China-based company working on small molecule drugs, also received funding from Baidu Ventures in 2021.
GenFleet co-founding chairman Qiang Lu said: “We are grateful to Huagai Capital and other investors for their recognition of our strategy to develop cutting-edge therapies, our innovative discovery platform, and our differentiated pipeline in both small molecules and biologics.
“We believe that it is our unique strategy, platform and pipeline that can not only minimise but may even eliminate the uncertainties induced by the market fluctuations or investment cycles. We can therefore provide a sound foundation for continuous growth and to distinguish ourselves from an extremely competitive environment to bring to patients globally innovative therapies from China.”
Jiong Lan, co-founder and CEO of GenFleet, added: “GenFleet’s pipeline highlights our focuses in cutting-edge therapies with novel mechanisms and global [intellectual property].
“We have built a highly differentiated pipeline sustained by our proprietary discovery platform. As we expect more programs to move into late-stage clinical development in 2022, GenFleet will continue to march toward commercialisation and globalisation. We hope to help patients across the world through scientific breakthroughs and achieve positive financial results for our stakeholders.”
