China-based antimicrobial therapy developer MicuRx Pharmaceuticals raised RMB300m ($43.2m) in a series D round featuring Sinopharm-CICC, a joint venture backed by pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, China Money Network reported yesterday.
Sinopharm-CICC, co-founded with investment manager China International Capital Corporation, joined private equity firm HG Capital, which led the round, and Zero2IPO Asset Management.
MicuRx is working on antibiotics that will be used to treat multi-drug resistant infections, otherwise known as superbugs. The funding will go to advancing its pipeline of product candidates as well as commercialisation activities in China.
Yuan Zhengyu, MicuRx’s founder and CEO, was quoted by China Money Network as saying: “The 2020 global public health system is facing unprecedented challenges. At the same time, the world must continue to face the dual urgency of bacterial resistance and the shortage of new antimicrobial drugs.
“With the sacred mission of fighting infection, MicuRx Pharmaceuticals will uphold the corporate spirit of ‘professionalism and innovation’, bringing more original, efficient and safe products to patients with severe infections in China and the world to better benefit the society.”
The latest round brought the company’s overall funding to more than $148m. Morningside Group provided $10m for it in 2007 before returning for a $25m series B round in 2013 that was led by BVCF and also backed by Devon Park Bioventures.
MicuRx completed a $55m series C round led by GP Healthcare Capital in 2016 that also featured GP Capital, which invested through its GP TMT Capital vehicle, as well as 3E Bioventures Capital and Delian Capital. The latter then co-led a $15.1m bridge round with BVCF the following year.
