China-based cancer therapy developer Lynk Pharmaceuticals received $50m today in a series B round led by Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), a corporate venturing subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
Legend Capital – a venture capital firm spun off by conglomerate Legend Holdings – also took part in the round, as did Hangzhou Heda Biological Medicine Venture Capital Partnership, Med-Fine Capital and New Alliance Capital.
Founded in 2018, Lynk is developing small molecule drugs to treat various types of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases as well as cancers. It has received Investigational New Drug approval for three drug candidates in its home country and the United States.
The company will use the cash to carry out phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for its product candidates, expand internationally and form cross-border alliances with potential partners that can help advance its preclinical pipeline.
Lynk had raised nearly $20m in series A-plus funding from Legend Capital in November 2020, seven months after it closed a series A round sized at tens of millions of dollars that was led by Decheng Capital and backed by Kaitai Capital, Med-Fine Capital and Zheshang Innovest.
Sinopharm Capital, a coprorate venturing vehicle for pharmaceutical group Sinopharm, took part in an eight-digit dollar angel round for the company in 2018 led by Kaitai Capital, with Med-Fine Capital also investing.
LAV vice-president Ting Feng said: “We are deeply impressed by the efficient execution and global vision of Lynk Pharmaceuticals’ management team. We are also very optimistic about the future huge market space and the unmet patient needs in the field of autoimmune disease and cancer.”
