Ablaze Pharmaceuticals ("Ablaze"), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies (TRT) against tumor targets, announced a $75 million Series A financing round. The financing was co-led by Vivo Capital and AdvanTech Capital with participation from RAYZ Investments, Nan Fung Life Sciences, Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, venBio Partners, Samsara BioCapital and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.
"Targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies represent the next foundational modality to treat cancer," said Dr. Ken Song, co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Ablaze and President and CEO of RayzeBio, Inc. "In forming Ablaze, we realized to be successful, it was critical to have a company focused on the China market and focused on radiopharmaceuticals."
With TRT gaining broader interest and adoption, Ablaze was formed to become the leading radiopharmaceutical company to introduce TRT products to the Greater China market. Led by an experienced team and a strong investor syndicate, Ablaze started on a solid footing, anchoring with a strategic RayzeBio in-licensing agreement, and a partnership with an academic institution on a clinical stage asset. Upon closure of the Series A, Ablaze is also actively exploring other potential partnerships, and building strong internal development capabilities.
"TRT is an emerging field that has already demonstrated tremendous clinical efficacy in treating cancer worldwide. We are privileged to have an opportunity to partner with Ablaze and the RayzeBio team in developing this category of potentially life-saving therapeutics for cancer patients in China." said Dr. Hongbo Lu, Managing Partner of Vivo Capital.
Proceeds from the Series A financing will be used by Ablaze to establish a leading pipeline of advanced TRT products for the treatment of solid tumors, expand the leadership team, build up infrastructure for radiopharmaceuticals and secure further strategic collaborations. The board of directors include Dr. Alex Qiao, co-founder and President and CEO of Ablaze Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Hongbo Lu, Benjamin Qiu, Partner at AdvanTech Capital, Dr. Aaron Royston, Managing Partner at venBio Partners, and Dr. Ken Song as well as Norman Tse, Vice President at Nan Fung Life Sciences as board observer.
"We believe Ablaze is bringing world class design of TRT products as well as clinical expertise to China through collaborations with global leaders in TRT, and is determined to be a leading player in China's TRT innovations" said Mr. Benjamin Qiu.
"We are excited about this opportunity to bring a novel class of therapeutic products to benefit patients in China," said Dr. Alex Qiao. "This investment from top tier investors in China and abroad provides a strong endorsement to Ablaze's vision and business model. We look forward to creating the best and differentiated medicines to address unmet medical needs in China."