InventisBio, a clinical stage biotech company dedicated to the research and development of innovative small molecule drugs, announced the recent completion of a $147 million series D financing which has attracted participation of many top biopharmaceutical and healthcare venture capital funds. This round of investment was led by Hillhouse affiliate GL Ventures, followed by Qiming Venture Partners, Janchor, AIHC Capital, Matrix Partner China, Dyee Capital, E Fund Capital and other investors. The existing shareholders including Lilly Asia Venture, OrbiMed Asia, Pudong Innotek, AdvanTech Capital, and CMB International continued their support. China Renaissance was the exclusive financial advisor of this transaction.
Currently InventisBio has three drug products in the mid- to late-stage clinical development, and one new product just entered global phase I clinical study. Among them, D-0502 is an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), which also acts as an estrogen receptor antagonist, with therapeutic potential for the treatment of hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Compared with other oral SERDs under clinical development worldwide, D-0502 has shown promising anti-tumor activity during phase 1 study with excellent bioavailability and tolerable safety profile. In addition, the company has independently developed a third-generation EGFR-T790M tyrosine kinase inhibitor BPI-D0316 and out-licensed China right to Betta Pharma. This product is currently in registration trials of first- and second-line treatment of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer patients and the trials are progressing smoothly.
Dr. Yaolin Wang, Chairman and CEO of InventisBio, said: "InventisBio is committed to developing first- and best-in-class innovative drugs for cancer and other major diseases. We are grateful and honored to have Hillhouse's GL Ventures led this series D round and thankful to other top investment funds, as well as the continued support from the existing investors. This investment demonstrated the recognition of our strong pipeline and fully integrated innovative R&D platform by top healthcare investors. It also shows our strategic investors' confidence in the future success of our company as a key player in the global pharmaceutical market."
Funds raised in this round will be mainly used to support the company's current products into phase II clinical studies in China and the United States, including D-0502 trials in hormone receptor positive breast cancer and D-0120 trials in gout. This round will also support the company's global clinical development of other new drugs, enable further expansion of the company's product pipeline and team.
Michael Yi, co-chief investment officer of Hillhouse Capital and head of biomedicine and medical devices of Hillhouse's GL Ventures, said: "As a small molecule innovative drug research and development company, InventisBio has an in-depth knowledge of small molecules' structure activity relationship and integrated understanding and experience in the efficient and successful development of novel molecules. The founding members have more than 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development, thorough understanding of drug's mechanism of action and selection of lead candidate for development. Since its establishment, InventisBio has balanced innovation and druggability, and has effectively developed multiple assets for diseases with unmet clinical needs. With four drug candidates in various clinical stages and two clinical registration trials ongoing, InventisBio has established its pipeline in two major therapeutic areas of oncology and metabolic diseases. In addition, the company has maintained a leading position in the drug development of similar products in China. We look forward to developing deep collaboration with InventisBio, advancing its drug discovery and clinical development to bring innovative drugs to the market faster to benefit more patients."