Abbisko Therapeutics Announces the Completion of $123 Million Series D Financing Jan 8, 2021
January 8th, 2021, Shanghai — Abbisko Therapeutics Co., Ltd. announced the recent completion of its Series D financing of $123 million. This investment was led by The Carlyle Group, with Warburg Pincus, OrbiMed, Lake Bleu Capital, and a Boston-based investor as the joint leading investors. Janchor Partners, Sage Partners, SHC, Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund and another strategic investor, as well as existing investors including Lilly Asia Ventures, Temasek Holdings, Qiming Venture Partners, Hankang Capital and CICC Capital also joined. This round of financing brought the total capital that Abbisko has raised to $263 million. The proceeds from this round will be used to accelerate the progress of the Company’s clinical programs and further expand its preclinical pipeline consisting of multiple programs in discovery to IND-enabling stages.
Since the establishment in 2016, Abbisko has built up an extensive small molecule pipeline in oncology targeted therapy and immune-oncology areas. Among them, four programs have advanced into clinical stage with seven IND approvals already obtained in different regions of the world. Abbisko has also established a number of collaborations with other pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and X4 Pharmaceuticals to strengthen its portfolio and research and development globally.
Dr. Yao-Chang Xu, the founder and CEO of Abbisko Therapeutics said, “We are grateful and honored to have Carlyle, Warburg Pincus and other prestigious international healthcare investors to join this round of financing, as well as the continued support from our existing investors. This investment not only demonstrated the recognition of our achievements and progresses by the top healthcare investors, but also shows our strategic investors' confidence in the future success of our company. The fund and resources obtained in this round will allow us to rapidly advance our clinical programs and also continue to accelerate and expand our portfolio programs in the discovery and preclinical development stages.”
Ling Yang, a Managing Director of the Carlyle Asia advisory team, commented: “Abbisko has achieved significant research and clinical progress since its establishment in 2016, showcasing its strong R&D capabilities led by one of China’s most seasoned management teams. The Company’s strong pipeline, in-house discovery engine, and experienced team make this a rare and exciting partnership and investment opportunity for Carlyle. We look forward to working with the Company to capture the growing opportunity in both the domestic and global biotech market.”
Fred Hassan, an iconic industry leader who is a current board member of Amgen and former Chairman and CEO of Schering Plough, commented on behalf of Warburg Pincus，“We are deeply impressed by Abbisko’s deep bench of talent in the small molecule oncology field and believe it is well positioned to develop world-class innovative medicine for global markets. Warburg Pincus, with a long history of investing in life sciences globally, will leverage its network to help the Company to accelerate global partnership and global clinical development”.
About Abbisko Therapeutics
Founded in April 2016, Abbisko is an oncology focused biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative medicines for unmet medical needs in China and around the world. The company is founded by a group of seasoned drug hunters with rich research and managerial experience from top multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese industrial leaders. Abbisko is currently focused on targeted therapy and immune-oncology areas with targets of high novelty and potential to discover and develop first-in-class or best-in-class small molecule drugs.
About Warburg Pincus
Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm. Since inception, Warburg Pincus has successfully raised 19 funds, and has invested over $86bn in more than 910 companies globally.
Since entering China in 1994, Warburg Pincus has invested over $14bn in more than 140 companies in the region. Warburg Pincus is one of the most active investors in the China healthcare industry, having invested more than $1.7bn in the sector. Select investment cases include Haihe Biopharma, Lepu Medical, Wuxi AppTec, China Biologics, Hygeia and Jinxin Fertility, etc.