Chinese biopharma startup lands $123m funding in series A, B rounds

China’s biopharmaceutical company Gensciences has completed over 800 million yuan (US$123.7 million) across its series A and B rounds.

The series A funding came from IDG Capital, New Alliance Capital, and Hygeia Capital, while the series B fundraising was led by Haitong Kaiyuan Investment, along with Efung Capital and Huarong Rongde Asset Management.

Gensciences CEO Wang Yali / Photo credit: Gensciences

Founded in 2019, Gensciences develops drugs that focus on underserved illnesses like hemophilia, metabolic diseases, and anti-tumor fields. It is developing coagulation factor products, as well as insulin and Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).

The fresh capital will be used for the clinical research of biomacromolecular drugs and its commercialization, as well as the construction of a production workshop.

Gensciences aims to become the leading firm in the hemophilia sector before expanding to metabolic diseases and anti-tumor fields, said its CEO Wang Yali.

China’s biopharma market is booming, with more than 140 new biotech companies emerging in the country from 2010 to 2020. The market size is expected to reach 833 billion yuan (US$128.8 billion) by 2025.

Earlier this year, Yisheng Biopharma raised US$130 million in a series B round led by Oceanpine and OrbiMed in February and was reportedly seeking to raise US$200 million in a Hong Kong IPO plan. In January, US-based private equity firm the Carlyle Group led a US$123 million series D financing for Abbisko Therapeutics, an oncology-focused biotech company in China.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.47 yuan.