One month after sharing promising interim-Phase I data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, China-based Ascentage Pharma secured $150 million in Series C financing that will be used to support the development of its pipeline.
One month after sharing promising interim-Phase I data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, China-based Ascentage Pharma secured $150 million in Series C financing that will be used to support the development of its pipeline.
The company was backed by a number of investors with strong ties to China. The round was led by including YuanMing Prudence Fund, a healthcare specialty fund focusing on China-U.S. cross-border investments, and Oriza Seed Venture Capital, which focuses on investment opportunities in early-stage and growth-stage enterprises. New investor,Teng Yue Partners, also participated. ArrowMark Partners, HDY International Investment, CTS Capital and CCB International also participated in the round, Ascentage said. To date, Ascentage has raised about $240 million.
Dajun Yang, chairman and chief executive officer of Ascentage, said the Series C financing round makes the company well-positioned to “achieve key data milestones” as it advances its pipeline of novel, apoptosis-targeted small molecule candidates.
Ascentage is developing therapeutics that inhibit protein-protein interactions in order to restore apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in cancers, the company said. The company has a pipeline of seven clinical candidates, including a novel, highly potent Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor, APG-1252, a novel dual inhibitor of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL, as well as candidates aimed at IAP and MDM2-p53 pathways. The company is also developing next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The company has completed a number of early-stage clinical trials and is focused on advancing its experimental cancer treatments into the next stage of clinical development.
“With 16 active clinical trials in the U.S., Australia, and China, we believe that we are the only company with a robust portfolio of active clinical programs focused on both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways and are pleased by the continued interest and support of our investor base to realize the full potential of protein-protein inhibition in addressing these complex, but highly promising, targets in cancer and other diseases,” Yang said in a statement.
Eric Zhao, a partner at Oriza Seed, said his firm was excited about the potential of Ascentage’s role in protein-protein interactions that will “enrich anti-cancer strategies.” Lawrence Tian, chairman of YuanMing Prudence Fund, also expressed his support of the Ascentage pipeline. He said the company’s ability to “disrupt difficult-to-target protein-protein interactions” could transform how some cancers are treated.
Ascentage Pharma has about 200 employees spread across its facilities in the Chinese cities of Suzhou, Shanghai and Taizho. The company also has a U.S.-based site in Rockville, Maryland.
