China-based antibody drug developer Transcenta Holding has closed a $105m crossover round backed by Lilly Asia Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
The round was led by the government-owned China Structural Reform Fund and included Country Garden Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of property developer Country Garden, as well as Qatar Investment Authority, CCT China Merchants Fund, Teng Yue Partners, Sequoia Capital China and unnamed new and existing investors.
Formed by the merger of HJB and MabSpace Biosciences, Transcenta is developing antibody-driven drugs to treat cancer, kidney and bone diseases. Proceeds from the round, which boosted its overall funding to $347m, will be used for clinical-stage research.
CR-CP Life Science Fund and Fortune Capital co-led a $100m series B-plus round for Transcenta in January this year that included Temasek, Epiphron Capital, CCT China Merchant Buyout Fund, China Equity Group, Hillhouse Capital, Teng Yue Partners, Sequoia Capital and Arch Venture Partners.
Lilly Asia Ventures, Sequoia Capital and King Star Capital had all backed MabSpace before the merger, over two rounds that collectively raised $55m. It was also an investor in HJB, which had assembled $120m as of mid-2018, having itself spun off from biotherapeutics developer Just Therapeutics.
HJB was also backed by insurance firm Taikang Life, Temasek, Hillhouse and financial services firms Bank of Hangzou and Bank of China, the latter through its subsidiary BOCGI Zheshang Capital.