Innovative Cellular Therapeutics (ICT), a China-based cancer immunotherapy developer backed by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, has raised over $40m in a series C round led by asset manager CDH Investments, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday.
CDH led the financing through its venture capital subsidiary, CDH Venture and Growth Capital.
Founded in 2009, ICT is working on a number of cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of solid and liquid tumours. It operates a proprietary CAR-T cell technology platform to develop its treatments.
The company’s lead candidate product, ICTCAR014, is a potential treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer affecting the lymphatic system.
ICT will use the capital injection to enhance its technology platform, develop gene therapies and accelerate clinical trials being conducted in China and the US.
VC firm LH Ventures led a series B-plus round of undisclosed size for the company in January 2020.
ICT pulled in $28.3m for a 2018 round backed by SoftBank’s SBCVC unit in addition to Volcanics Venture, GTJA Investment Group, Dunhou Capital and Withtruth Capital.
CDH Investments and I-Bridge Capital provided an undisclosed amount of series A funding for the business in 2016.