LP Pharmaceutical (Xiamen), a China-based pharmaceutical developer backed by airline operator Xiamen Air, secured RMB500m ($72.3m) in a series C round led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China yesterday, DealStreetAsia reported.
Financial services firm Industrial Bank also participated in the round, as did CICC Transfar, a joint venture between chemicals-focused conglomerate Transfar Group and investment banking firm China International Capital Corporation’s CICC Capital unit.
The round was completed by Shenzhen Capital Group, Dyee Capital, Qiandao Fund, Lapam Capital, Fujian Innovation Investment Management and Silicon Valley Huoju Fund. BMD Capital advised the company on the transaction.
LP Pharma is developing oral therapeutics for central nervous system disorders in addition to cancer, AIDS and cardiovascular diseases. It intends to channel the funding into advancing its product pipeline.
The company raised approximately $30m in a 2017 series B round led by the Chinese state-owned State Development and Investment Corporation through its SDIC unit, with China Merchants Bank’s CMB International Capital and pharmaceutical company Pien Tze Huang also investing.
China Construction Bank’s CCB Capital fund had joined investment firm Qunxian Capital to provide an undisclosed amount of series A funding for LP Pharma two years earlier.
Ying Ye, the company’s founder and chief executive, is also its largest shareholder, with a 32.9% share, followed by SDIC Fund Management (14.3%), China Merchants Bank (10.7%), and an investment subsidiary of Xiamen Air (5.7%).
