For the last few years, Hong Kong has been the preferred financial hub for many Chinese health care companies to go public and raise money from global investors. “Biotechnology is today the fastest-growing IPO market segment,” said Nicolas Aguzin, CEO of HKEX, during the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) Biotech Summit 2021.
Disc Medicine Inc. closed a $90 million series B round to move its two lead assets into clinical trials in patients next year. Bitopertin, an oral inhibitor of glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1), is entering a phase II trial in patients with erythropoietic porphyrias (EPPs), a set of rare genetic disorders caused by mutations that disrupt heme synthesis. Disc-0974, an antibody directed against hemojuvelin, will enter a phase II trial in myelofibrosis patients with transfusion-dependent anemia. The molecule, which Disc Medicine in-licensed from North Chicago-based Abbvie Inc., is currently undergoing a phase I trial in healthy volunteers.
Ventura Capital has led a $60 million series A investment round into consumer genetic testing company Dnanudge Ltd. It is the first major fundraising round for the London-based company, which will be used to accelerate deployment of its DNA testing service worldwide. Dnanudge is aiming to tap into the lucrative consumer DNA testing market with Dnaband, a wearable device that stores digital DNA and helps users make healthier choices by personalizing shopping behaviors. The company is also planning a service for personalized skincare shopping.
Onkos Surgical Inc. nabbed an additional $15 million from its existing investors in a series C fundraising round. The Parsippany, N.J.-based company plans to use the new cash to accelerate research and development for its product line which is designed to meet the specialized needs of oncology patients who require orthopedic surgery and the surgeons who work with them.
Less than six months after closing a $55 million series A round, Asher Biotherapeutics Inc. has added another $108 million in a series B round to accelerate development of its early stage pipeline of targeted cytokine-based immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune disease and infection.
Hebecell Corp. closed on a $53 million series A funding to continue advancing its off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell CAR-natural killer cell (PSC-CAR-NK) therapy program into the clinic. Allen Feng, Hebecell’s chief scientific officer, has worked in stem cell development for more than 16 years. He’s seen a lot of technological change, especially in the past two years. Everyone is using the same technology, he said, but added that Hebecell’s technology is different from anyone else’s. It’s much simpler technology and has “very good potential” to move into large-scale industrial production.
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