PRINCETON, N.J. and SHANGHAI and SUZHOU, China, May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Duality Biologics (DualityBio or Company), an innovative biotech company, announced the completion of $90 million series B financing today. This round of financing was led by Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) and jointly invested by YUNION Healthcare Fund, Huagai Capital, NRL Capital, Green Pine Capital Partners, and Oriza Holdings, etc. Series A investor WuXi Biologics (2269.HK) continued to increase its stake in this round to accelerate DualityBio's R&D progress leveraging its premier-quality integrated technology platforms. DualityBio has raised more than $120 million since its establishment in January 2020. Major investors in the previous round include King Star Capital, WuXi Biologics, 6 Dimensions Capital, and other investment institutions. The funds raised in this round will be mainly used for conducting preclinical research, clinical trials, and expanding pipeline through strategic in-licensing, out-licensing and research collaborations globally.
Develop Novel Modality Drug to Meet Unmet Medical Needs
Focusing on the field of oncology and autoimmune diseases, DualityBio has developed a novel internal pipeline of nearly 10 Best-in-Class and First-in-Class bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) and Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) drugs, to fulfill the unmet medical needs for patients worldwide. The company has successfully developed the next-generation ADC platform with global intellectual property rights. The value of the platform has been fully validated with several drug candidates under preclinical development. DualityBio will continue to expand and enrich its novel modality drug platforms through internal R&D and external collaborations. The company has built up a strong and highly experienced international team with proven track record in preclinical research, clinical development, and global business development.
Dr. John Zhu, founder and CEO of DualityBio said: "I am very grateful for the recognition and strong support from the top investors in the industry, and I appreciate very much our highly productive team for their unremitting efforts. The booming of biotechnology makes it possible to develop novel modality drugs, which is not only an opportunity but also our mission. The unmet needs of patients demand new therapeutic solutions. DualityBio is committed to be the leader of novel modality drug developers, and we will continue to develop innovative and breakthrough therapies, to live up to patients' expectations."
"We hold strong conviction of innovative therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune diseases, which offer huge market potential and fulfill the unmet medical needs worldwide. Companies with truly exceptional capabilities in innovation and globalization will stand out, and DualityBio is clearly one of such companies." Dr. Yi Shi, the Founding Managing Partner of LAV, commented, "As a veteran of more than 20 years in the industry, John has both rich industry experience and great acuity for investment. He has successfully established and incubated a number of biotech companies. Within just over one year, DualityBio has not only established a world-class team with deep industry insights and excellent execution capabilities, but also forged a globally competitive drug development platform with a very strong pipeline. LAV will offer sustained support for DualityBio to become a global leader in the industry!"
Dr. Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics, said: "ADC has emerged as an exciting therapeutic modality which attracts increasing investment from pharmaceuticals and ventures. WuXi Biologics has established the integrated technology platforms for ADC, which allows global partners to develop innovative biologics leveraging our extensive expertise and capacity. We are glad to enable DualityBio to expedite the ADC development with lower cost as they strive to build robust biologics pipeline."
Xianghong Lin, the Founding Partner of King Star Capital, remarked: "John is not only an excellent investor but also a company builder in the biotech industry. We have worked together and helped multiple biotech startups quickly attained their "0" to "1" transformations, and successfully listed as public companies on the capital market. As an investor in the early stage of DualityBio, we believe in John's proactive, innovative entrepreneurial spirit and rich industry experience, and will continue to support the company's future growth."
About Duality Biologics
"To Translate Novel Modality into Reality". Duality Biologics was founded in January 2020 by Dr. John Zhu, a well-respected investor in the healthcare industry. DualityBio is committed to developing novel modality drugs to fulfill the unmet medical needs for patients worldwide. Focusing on the oncology and autoimmune diseases, the company has built a novel internal pipeline including nearly 10 Best-in-Class and First-in-Class bispecific antibody and Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) drugs, of which several drug candidates are in the IND stage. The company has successfully built the next-generation ADC platform with global intellectual property rights. The value of this platform has been validated by a number of drug candidates under development.
The company has an international team located in China and the United States, with proven track record in the field of novel drug research, clinical development and global business development. The global clinical development team has led clinical trials for more than 50 oncology and immunology drugs, and facilitated the approval of five innovative drugs in China and the United States. The global business development team has led and executed more than 20 strategic global in-licensing, out-licensing and M&A collaboration deals, with a total valuation of more than $5 billion. DualityBio will continue to expand and deepen the existing pipeline and R&D platform, both through internal R&D effort and strategic external collaborations.
CONTACT US：
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About Lilly Asia Ventures
Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a leading biomedical venture capital firm founded in 2008, with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Menlo Park. LAV's vision is to become the trusted partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital and to build great companies developing breakthrough products that can treat diseases and improve human health.
About Wuxi Biologics
WuXi Biologics (stock code: 2269.HK), a Hong Kong-listed company, is a leading global open-access biologics technology platform offering end-to-end solutions to empower organizations to discover, develop, and manufacture biologics from concept to commercial manufacturing. The company's history and achievements demonstrate its commitment to providing a truly one-stop service offering and strong value proposition to its global clients.
As of March 22, 2021, there were a total of 361 integrated projects, including 190 projects in pre-clinical development stage, 137 projects in early-phase (phase I and II) clinical development, 32 projects in late-phase (phase III) development and 2 projects in commercial manufacturing. With total estimated capacity for biopharmaceutical production planned in China, Ireland, the U.S., Germany, and Singapore around 430,000 liters after 2024, WuXi Biologics will provide its biomanufacturing partners with a robust and premier-quality global supply chain network.
WuXi Biologics views Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as an integral component of its ethos and business strategy and has established an ESG committee led by the CEO to increase the efficiency while advancing commitment to sustainability.
About King Star Capital
King Star Capital was established in 2017, as the USD investment vehicle of Kington Capital. Its core management team has been specializing in private equity and venture capital investment, and accumulated more than 20 years practicing experience in financing for the development of technology companies and industries, with abundant successful investment cases. The fund managed by King Star Capital is focused on investment in innovative bio-tech companies.
SOURCE Duality Biologics
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