Beijing, China, May 23, 2017— CANbridge Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing Western drug candidates in China and North Asia, announced that it raised $25 million in a Series B round with lead investor, Lapam Capital, a Beijing-based life science venture capital firm, with a portfolio that includes Betta Pharm.  Several other institution investors also participated, including: Qiming Venture Partners, Yuanming Capital, Yanyuan Capital, Biossom Investment Management and Wuxi App Tec. Haoyue Capital provided professional services.

CANbridge will use the proceeds to fund the clinical trial development of its two lead compounds, CAN008 and CAN017, in China.xs CAN008, a fully-human fusion onco-immunotherapy, is currently in a Phase I/II for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), in Taiwan. The company plans to initiate a Phase II CAN008 GBM trial in China in 2018. CAN017, an antibody inhibitory onco-immunotherpy, will target esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC), the prevalent form of esophageal cancer in Asia. CANbridge has raised a total of over $40M in  Series A and B financing rounds combined, and has plans for additional strategic transactions in 2017.

“We are delighted with the strong response from the market in this round of financing,” said James Xue, PhD, CANbridge Chairman and CEO. “We welcome the new institutional investors, as well as appreciate the continuing  support from Qiming and endorsement of our vision, strategy and programs. These funds will bolster CANbridge’s financial position and strategy to build a pipeline of leading candidates in solid-tumor oncology in China.  It enables us to advance our clinical trial program in our two lead candidates, CAN008 and CAN017, in China, where we hope to address the serious needs of patients with glioblastoma multiforme and esophageal squamous cell cancer, diseases with almost no effective treatment options.” 

About CANbridge Life Sciences

CANbridge Life Sciences, Ltd. is a clinical-stage bio-pharmaceutical company accelerating development and commercialization of specialty healthcare products for serious and critical medical conditions in China and North Asia (Korea and Taiwan).  CANbridge develops partnerships with Western bio-pharmaceutical companies, with clinical-stage pharmaceutical, medical device or diagnostic products, that are either unavailable in China/North Asia or address medical needs that are underserved in the region. CANbridge also licenses, or obtains exclusive rights to develop, drug and device products that are approved in their home markets, for commercialization in China and North Asia.  

CANbridge has an agreement with EUSA Pharma to commercialize Caphosol® in China for the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis caused by cancer treatments, and a license with Apogenix to develop, manufacture and commercialize immune-oncology therapy, APG101, for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme in China, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where it will be developed as CAN008. CANbridge also holds a worldwide license (ex-North America) with AVEO Oncology to develop, manufacture and commercialize clinical-stage ErbB3 (HER3) inhibitory antibody candidate, AV-203, renamed by CANbridge as CAN017. 

Led and backed by a highly-seasoned executive team, with extensive Chinese drug development experience, CANbridge has the capability to select, acquire, develop and commercialize future therapeutics and diagnostics targeting the unmet medical needs of Chinese and East Asian patients with serious or critical conditions.  

CANbridge is privately-held and headquartered in Beijing, China.  For more on CANbridge Life Sciences, please go to www.canbridgepharma.com.

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