Third Venture Biopharma and Tasgen Merge to form I-Mab, Raises $150m in Series B Financing
Third Venture Biopharma was founded in 2015 by a team led by Dr. Jingwu Zang. TigerMed (300347) and BioSciKin were early investors in the company. It specializes in discovery and early stage clinical development of global innovative biologics in immune-oncology and autoimmune diseases. The team has more than 10 years' R&D experiences in both multinational and domestic pharmaceutical companies, and extensive expertise in innovative drug development. Third Venture Biopharma closed Series A financing led by I-Bridge Capital in October 2016.
Tasgen, founded in 2015, is a three-way joint venture among I-Bridge, Shanghai Tasly Pharmaceutical, Genexine Inc (KQ.095700) and CBC, to collaboratively develop bio-betters for China and global markets. Tasgen's pipeline covers diabetes, oncology and autoimmune diseases.
Post merger, I-MAB will have 12 biologics assets in development. The merger will create significant synergies between Third Venture Biopharma and Tasgen in respect of R&D capabilities and pipeline competitiveness. The $150m series B investment led by CBC and Tasly is further validation of the strategy and synergies and leadership of the combined company and pipeline. Tasly Pharmaceutical's Chairman Mr. Kaijing Yan commented, “we are very excited to participate in the investment into the most innovative biologics company in China, and we will jointly promote the technical development of China biologics industry.”
Core competency of Third Venture Biopharma team is for discovery, in vitro and in vivo validation as well as early stage clinical development, while Tasgen team's core competency centres around biologics process development, pre-clinical evaluation, manufacturing and pharmaceutical quality system. “With the merger, and Series B financing, we have now become an integrated R&D organization and are supported by sufficient capital. We are now in a strong position to translate innovative molecules into differentiated clinical assets in the areas of our therapeutic focus,” said Jingwu Zang, Chairman and CEO.
Proceeds of this round of financing will be used for launching and developing clinical stage assets, advancing process development, preclinical toxicity study and IND filing in Chia and US for innovative antibodies, in licensing global innovative drugs and developing in China, team expansion and establishing independent integrated facility for operations and R&D.
About Third Venture Biopharma：
Third Venture Biopharma is founded and led by Dr Jingwu Zang. The China based company is focused on developing innovative therapeutic antibodies for global market and has become an immune-oncology and autoimmune diseases focused biotech company. Recently, the company has established strategic collaboration with Ferring and exclusively licensed in the rights to Olamkicept, a phase 2 ready therapeutic drug for autoimmune diseases.
About C-Bridge Capital：
C-Bridge Capital is a healthcare dedicated private equity firm, focused on growth and late stage investment opportunities. C-Bridge Capital's current portfolio includes China's leading players in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnosis and healthcare services. As of today, the AUM of C-Bridge Capital has exceeded US$700 million. With the power of capital market, C-Bridge Capital is committed to support commercialization of cutting edge technologies and companies that fulfil unmet medical needs, thus continuously improving the standard and quality of care for patients.
About Tasly：
Tasly Group (600535.SH) is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in China with over 20 years' history. Tasly's business focuses on R&D, manufacturing and sales of modern TCM, biologics and small molecules. The products are registered in over 34 countries all over the world. Tasly owns one of the largest marketing and sales team in China, covering all the major therapeutic area.
About I-Bridge Capital：
I-Bridge Capital is healthcare dedicated venture capital, focused on early stage pharma and biotech investment, I-Bridge's differentiated investment strategy is to invest, incubate and develop innovative companies, by adding values in active implementation. The I-Bridge team will directly participate in operations to serve in critical functional areas while creating synergies among portfolio companies.
About Genexine：
Genexine, Inc., listed on KOSDAQ (095700-KQ) since 2009, is a clinical stage biotherapeutics company focused on immuno-oncology and metabolic/autoimmune diseases. Genexine has robust R&D pipelines in clinical and pre-clinical stages based on long-acting Fc fusion technology and therapeutic DNA vaccine technology. Currently Genexine is running over 9 clinical trials from Phase I to Phase IIb in Europe and Asia. Founded in 1999, Genexine has over 150 employees and half of them are scientists with MSc or Ph.D. Genexine is located in Pangyo Techno Valley near Seoul, Korea with a branch office in New York. More information can be found at www.genexine.com.
About Tasgen：
Tasgen, founded in 2015, is a three-way joint venture among I-Bridge, Shanghai Tasly Pharmaceutical, Genexine Inc (KQ.095700) and CBC, to collaboratively develop long acting protein therapeutics for China and global markets. Tasgen's pipeline covers diabetes, oncology and autoimmune diseases.
