China-based drug developer Hua Medicine announced a total of $117.4m in series D and E funding today from investors including Ping An Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of insurance provider Ping An.
The backers also included WuXi AppTec Corporate Ventures, an investment vehicle of life science R&D firm WuXi AppTec, as well as Eight Roads and F-Prime Capital, two investment branches of financial services conglomerate Fidelity.
6 Dimensions Capital, the investment firm formed by WuXi and Frontline Bioventures, also took part, as did Singaporean state fund GIC, Avict Global, Blue Pool Capital, K11 Investments, Mirae Asset Financial, Venrock, Ally Bridge Group and Harvest Investments.
Arch Venture Partners, several healthcare funds managed by an undisclosed investment firm and unnamed Hua co-founders and management also participated. Hua has not specified individual amounts or clarified which investors took part in the respective rounds.
Hua is working on treatments for type 2 diabetes and levodopa-induced dyskinesia, a condition that causes involuntary movement disorders and which is often the result of long-term dopamine therapy in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
The funding will allow Hua to complete two phase 3 trials and move towards a commercial launch in China for its diabetes treatment. It follows reports earlier this month that the company was gearing up for a $400m initial public offering.
Hua had previously secured $125m in funding, with WuXi first contributing to a $50m series A round in 2011 alongside Arch, Venrock, F-Prime Capital, Eight Roads and Sino-Alliance International (Sail), an affiliate of chipmaker Shanghai Simic Electronics.
Ally Bridge had led the company’s $25m series B round in 2015, which also featured Sail, 6 Dimensions Capital, Fidelity, Arch, Venrock and TF Capital, before the same backers supplied another $50m the following year.