CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HiFiBiO Therapeutics, a world leader in the discovery of therapeutic antibodies through single-B-cell screening and analysis, today announced the completion of a $37.5 million Series B financing round and the company’s transformation into a multinational biopharmaceutical enterprise with an experienced management team, stronger global presence and rich pipeline of novel antibody drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune disorders.
“With our oversubscribed Series B funding, expanded drug development team and new facilitates on three continents, HiFiBiO Therapeutics is now poised to generate breakthrough immune modulators to address unmet medical needs around the world,” said HiFiBiO Therapeutics President and CEO, Liang Schweizer, PhD. “Our rapid pipeline progression is supported by our leadership’s commitment to open innovation generating new biological insights from multiple collaborations with leading global academic institutions and biopharmaceutical companies.”
Series B Financing
The $37.5 million Series B financing was
led by Sequoia
China and LYFE
Capital. The financing round was also supported by existing Series A
investors, VI
Ventures and Nest.Bio
Ventures, as well as new investors, Legend
Star Capital and Proxima
Ventures.
“We have found HiFiBiO Therapeutics was compelling as an investment due to its unique combination of deep-rooted biological expertise and truly disruptive single-B-cell cloning technology,” said Lynn Yang, Managing Director of Sequoia China. “This combination could more effectively bring new solutions to fight and ultimately, cure devastating diseases.”
“We are very excited about HiFiBiO Therapeutics’ long-term growth trajectory,” said James Zhao, MD, Founding Partner at LYFE Capital. “The company has an experienced management team, a proven technology platform and a clear ability to generate a robust and sustainable pipeline of novel antibodies for complex diseases and diverse tumor types.”
Proven Leadership Team
HiFiBiO Therapeutics made its first
step towards becoming an innovative therapeutics company by appointing a
new management team of experienced industry veterans. Dr.
Schweizer brings more than 30 years of experience in biomedical
research and drug discovery and development. She previously held senior
management roles in cancer research at Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
New Chief Operating Officer, Jeff
He adds more than 20 years in corporate finance, strategy and
operations. He was previously an Executive Vice President at
ChemPartner. Dr. Schweizer and Mr. He worked together previously and
co-authored a paper published in Drug Discovery Today that
promoted a similar open innovation model that HiFiBiO Therapeutics
employs today. In addition, the HiFiBiO Therapeutics management team
includes two original founders of HiFiBiO Inc. Colin
Brenan, PhD, will continue to serve as the Chief Commercial Officer
and Fred
Dom assumes a new role as the Chief Financial Officer.
Expanded Global Footprint and Innovative Drug Pipeline
HiFiBiO
Therapeutics currently has more than 50 full-time employees operating
out of three facilities in the USA, France and China. Both the
laboratories in Cambridge, Mass. and Hangzhou, China are located within
the Nest.Bio Ventures incubator facilities. The company continues to
establish multiple strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies to drive an innovative pipeline of antibody
drugs that leverage its proprietary single-B-cell functional antibody
discovery CelliGOTM platform.
About HiFiBiO Therapeutics
HiFiBiO Therapeutics is an
emerging multinational biotherapeutics company mobilizing the human
immune system to combat disease. The company integrates deep-rooted
biological expertise with our comprehensive single-cell profiling
technologies to rapidly discover and advance a pipeline of antibody
drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune disorders. In addition, HiFiBiO
Therapeutics aspires to benefit patients through open-innovation
partnerships with industry and academia. For more information, please
visit www.hifibio.com.
About Sequoia China
The Sequoia team helps daring founders
build legendary companies. In partnering with Sequoia, companies benefit
from our unmatched community and the lessons we’ve learned over 46 years
working with Apple, Cisco, Oracle, Google, Alibaba, Airbnb, and JD.com
among many others. As “The Entrepreneurs Behind The Entrepreneurs”,
Sequoia China focuses on four sectors: TMT, healthcare,
consumer/service, and industrial technology. Over the past 13 years
we’ve had the privilege of working with more than 500 companies in
China. For more information, visit www.sequoiacap.com/china/en.
About LYFE Capital
Founded in 2015, LYFE Capital is a
healthcare investment firm focused on venture investment and assisting
the growth of high-quality companies in China and the United States.
With a total of USD 500 million and RMB1.45 billion under management,
LYFE utilizes a proven team to identify and work with companies that
have products on the market and desire an aspect of international
growth. LYFE Capital has an office in Shanghai, Hong Kong and recently
opened an office in Palo Alto, California. For more information, please
visit www.lyfecapital.com.
About Virtus Inspire Ventures
VI Ventures is a venture
capital firm with a mission to help entrepreneurs make the world better.
We are in search of ambitious companies with focus on investing in
MedTech, Life science and TMT companies in China, U.S. and Israel. The
firm invests in early stage cross border technology companies. We help
portfolio companies enter and expand into massive and fast-growing
markets in China and Asia. As a boutique firm, we provide seed, venture,
and growth-stage funding. Additionally, we work as a partner with our
portfolio companies, contributing expertise in essential services:
branding, marketing, channel development, overseas expansion, human
resources and finance. For more information, please visit www.en.vi-ventures.com.
About Nest.Bio Ventures
Nest.Bio is a life sciences venture
development and venture capital firm focused on leveraging technological
breakthroughs to develop, fund and commercialize next-generation
therapeutics globally. Founded in 2016, Nest.Bio has actively invested
in a number of early-stage biotechnology companies and has further
established a fully-integrated life science laboratory infrastructure in
both Cambridge, Mass. and Hangzhou, China to facilitate the venture
development process. As a partner in the transformation of revolutionary
science into leading healthcare companies, Nest.Bio has been able to
successfully access deep scientific, operational and financial expertise
to create an ideal international ecosystem for entrepreneurs, scientists
and seasoned executives. For more information, please visit www.nest.bio.
