Zhiyi Biotech Closes CNY110 Million B Round for Live Biotherapeutics Development
Release Time: 2020-12-24
Recently, Zhiyi Biotech, a clinical-stage company based in Guangzhou, closed a CNY110 million Series B financing to support its current clinical study and the expansion of pipeline. Participants include SDIC Venture Capital, PuenGuoxin Investment, Korea Investment Partners, Zhuhai Lehong Investment, and YCD Bio who joined the previously announced Series A financing.
Zhiyi is a leading biotech in live biotherapeutics (LBPs) and next-generation microbiome-based biotherapies in China. The company’s first program SK08（Bacteroides fragilis） was approved for clinical trials in November 2019. It is the first LBP in clinical stage in China with immense influence. Zhiyi has established a complete technical system for the spectra of microorganisms and pathogenic bacteria, the isolation and target identification of new functional strains as well as the development of new live biotherapeutics and active ingredients. Zhiyi also has a complete industrialization platform from preclinical to NDA.
Dr. Wang Ye, CEO of Zhiyi, says that Zhiyi has made rapid development since Series A financing in 2018. Phase I clinical study for SK08 has already been completed and Phase II clinical study was initiated recently. New LBP candidates are developed fast. The second IND for clinical urgent need will be started next year. This year has witnessed remarkable progress in LBPs globally，confirming that our direction is correct. Zhiyi always focuses on truly unmet clinical needs and easy accessibility to benefit patients. We are willing to work with both the scientist and the entrepreneur to promote LBPs from beach to bedside. This Series B financing has drawn extensive attention and it involves SDIC, industrial capital, and overseas investment. We express our thanks for investors’ high recognition.
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Guotou(Shanghai)S&T Achievements Conversion Venture Investment Fund(L.P.)
SDIC: The human micro-ecology is like the “second genome” for human and contains important genetic information. There are as many as 10 million genes encoded, whose number of genes encoded can reach 150 times compared with that of human genes. Therefore, it is very closely related to human health since intestinal microecology is an important maintainer of human development and health and regulates multiple system functions directly and indirectly. The current global market for drugs related to gut microbes is huge. Based on SK08, Zhiyi has completed a development path of LBP, which meets the national review and approval standards and major in single-bacteria druggability. This path is the key to microbial drug development. SK08 is not only supported by Guangdong Provincial Major Scientific and Technological Achievement Transformation Special Project and the Guangzhou Innovation Leading Team Project but also the only intestinal microbiota drug project supported by Chinese National Programs for High Technology Research and Development] (863 Program). This investment facilitates the clinical development of the head product SK08 and enhances the development capabilities of subsequent platform products, further increases technical barriers, solves unmet clinical needs, and accelerates the clinical and market transformation of technological achievement.
SDIC Venture Capital Co., Ltd. (SDICVC), founded in 2016, is a fund management company founded by the State Development and Investment Corp. (SDIC), under a market-driven governance structure. SDICVC puts into practice the marketization and industrialization of the nation’s scientific and technological achievements, focusing on an investment strategy of “serving the national innovation strategy and focusing on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements”. SDICVC currently manages four funds including National Science and Technology Fund, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Fund on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, SDIC High-tech (Shenzhen) Venture Capital Fund, and National investment (Ningbo) scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation Fund. Through these platforms, SDICVC always concentrates on the transformation of technological achievements like advanced manufacturing, TMT, materials and energy, and biomedicine, as well as focusing on national strategic tasks such as Major National Science and Technology Projects, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordination, and Yangtze River Delta integration.
Pu’en Guoxin Equity Investment Center(L.P.)of Shijiazhuang High-tech Zone
General Manager, Mr. Zhao: LBP has been a research hotspot in recent years, and it is also the layout direction of major domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies. As a leading domestic R&D enterprise of NGP and LBP, Zhiyi has a deep technology accumulation, a rich project layout, and a domestic first-class industrialization platform for the entire process of strain screening, functional evaluation, and drug development. Pu’en Guoxin is very optimistic about the development of Zhiyi, we believe that under the leadership of the professional team, Zhiyi is bound to become a leading international company in the field of live bacteria drug.
Pu’en Guoxin was jointly established by Guoxin Sichuang Investment Fund Management (Beijing)Co., Ltd and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., which focuses on the investment of innovative biomedicine. The company aims to synergistically empower and enhance the value of target invested projects through the combination of industrial capital and socialized capital, while also creating income for investors and achieving a win-win situation for all parties.
Korea Investment Partners (KIP)
KIP Managing Partner, Mr. Hu: The research of new live bacteria drugs carried out by Zhiyi is an extremely popular direction in the biopharmaceutical market. KIP attaches great importance to the development of such new technologies. We value Zhiyi as the only company that has live bacteria drugs progressed to clinical phase I. It also has the most advanced domestic technical experts in this field, a rich product pipeline, and a large market scale. We hope that Zhiyi can develop more new pipelines and become the leader in the live bacteria drug market, which benefits more patients.
Director of KIP Investment, Dr. Kim: The microbiome has a close and extensive influence on human health and disease occurrence. The research and development of drugs related to microecology have great potential, which is currently in the early stage of transformation from scientific research to industry. It is a new direction with important clinical value in the world, which is a good investment opportunity. There are few companies involved in this field in China, which means Zhiyi has the first-mover advantage. In addition, the team has rich experience in clinical, intestinal microecology, and new drug development, besides，they have successfully developed several innovative drugs. We look forward to it Zhiyi can make even greater breakthroughs.
Korea Investment Partners (KIP) is a leading venture capital and private equity with ample investment experience. For more than 30 years since 1986, KIP has shown steady and unprecedented investment performances in various industries. KIP established its China Main Office in Shanghai in 2008, focusing on the development of multiple emerging fields, especially biomedicine/big health, big consumption/financial technology, high-precision technology/intelligent manufacturing, etc., with portfolio companies all over the world, Has a wealth of investment experience, and has obtained market-proven investment performance.
Zhuhai Hengqin Lehong Investment Management Co., Ltd.
General Manager, Mr. Chen: The live bacteria drug has a bright future, and it is still in its infancy in China. SK08 in Zhiyi is the first LBP entering the clinical stage in China. It is an important breakthrough for the development of live bacteria drugs in China. The team of Zhiyi is industry-leading in research and development, with abundant pipelines, simultaneous transformation of drugs and derivative products, and the ability of sustainable development. We are firmly optimistic about the prospects of this field and holds strong confidence in Zhiyi.
Zhuhai Lehong was established in 2016 as a subsidiary of Xinwan. It is a strategic partner with Fangyuan Group which is a top 100 real estate company, to develop investment management, asset management, and equity investment businesses in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The company’s investment projects cover multiple fields such as financial technology, biomedicine, high-end manufacturing, and industrial Internet. Many projects have been listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, SME Board, and Nasdaq since company establishment.