China-based cellular medicine developer Cytovant secured $23.5m in funding on Friday from investors including steelmaker Posco’s corporate venture capital arm, Posco Capital.
VC firm BNH Investment led the round, which also featured VC firm Smilegate Investment and Mirae Asset Venture Investment, a subsidiary of investment manager Mirae Asset Global Investments.
Launched in April 2019 by biotech company builder Roivant Sciences and its Sinovant Sciences offshoot, Cytovant is developing cellular therapies that are focused on the Asian market.
The startup will use the funding to progress drug candidates for acute myeloid leukaemia and a transgenic T-cell candidate into clinical trials in Asia. It licensed the former from T cell immunotherapy developer Medigene.
Cytovant president John Xu said: “Asian patients have unique immunologic features and are treated in healthcare systems that may differ markedly from their Western counterparts.
“Our strategy is to develop treatments to address those needs precisely. This financing will rapidly accelerate the development of our medicines for patients in China, Korea and Japan.”
