US-based biopharmaceutical company RuiYi has raised $15m in a series B round supported by SR One, the independent corporate healthcare venture capital fund of GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono Ventures, the strategic corporate venture fund of Merck Serono.
The two corporate venturing units were joined by 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Apposite Capital and Aravis Ventures. All six participated as existing investors, though RuYi did not disclose how much capital it had raised from the firms previously. RuiYi was founded in China but acquired by US healthcare company Anaphore in 2012.
RuiYi focuses on the discovery and development of novel biologic therapeutics that meet the medical and commercial needs for China’s patients and healthcare system and that have the potential to be disruptive globally. RYI-008, RuiYi’s first drug candidate, has a unique pharmacologic profile that could potentially redefine the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
RuiYi CEO Paul Grayson said: “With this support from our investors, we have expanded our team and will advance RYI-018 through protein engineering for IND enabling studies and move RYI-008 into clinical trials in China. To meet their medical needs, China needs more than biosimilars, they need new, innovative therapeutics. We see our drug development strategy in China as a way to take a lead in creating new innovative medicines that could help patients around the world.”