China-based computational therapeutics developer ShouTi raked in $100m on Wednesday in a series B round featuring drug development software provider Schrodinger and pharmaceutical firms WuXi AppTec and Eli Lilly.
Private investment partnership BVF Partners led the round, which included F-Prime Capital Partners and Eight Roads, both investing on behalf of investment and financial services group Fidelity.
Casdin Capital, Monashee Capital, Sage Partners, Stork Capital, Surveyor Capital, TCG X, Woodline Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital China and TF Capital filled out the participants while Eli Lilly invested through its Lilly Asia Ventures unit.
Founded in 2016, ShouTi is using advanced computational chemistry modelling technology to create oral therapeutics for a range of cardiovascular, pulmonary and metabolic conditions.
The funding will be used to further develop the company’s drug discovery platform and continue work on its clinical-stage pipeline. The round brings its total funding to $158m, it said.
ShouTi has not publicly disclosed details of its series A round but listed WuXi AppTec, Sequoia China, Eight Roads, F-Prime, Qiming Venture Partners and TF Capital as existing investors. BVF’s Jessica Lifton and TCG X’s Chen Yu are joining its board of directors in conjunction with the latest round.
Raymond Stevens, ShouTi’s CEO, said: “In the last 20 years, our industry has developed multiple breakthroughs in biologic and peptide medicines, as well as in computational and experimental methods to improve small molecule drug discovery. Now is the time to bring that all together.
“We believe the combination enables the development of best-in-class, orally available small molecule medicines that more effectively treat important diseases and are accessible to all.”
