BOSTON and SHANGHAI, June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncologie, an innovative biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it is launching operations in both Boston and Shanghai with $16.5M seed financing led by Pivotal bioVenture Partners China. Oncologie is committed to developing impactful cancer therapies to improve long-term survival of cancer patients worldwide. Building a pipeline of First and Best-in-Class clinical stage drug candidates through licensing and partnering, Oncologie is leveraging the recent regulatory changes in China to conduct parallel clinical development in China and the US to bring the next wave of Immuno-Oncology products to the two most important markets simultaneously. 

Oncologie is developing multiple global programs currently in Phase 2 and Phase 3 whose mechanisms are designed to combine with immune checkpoint inhibitors to improve survival benefits. The management team of Oncologie includes industry veterans from biotech and pharma with proven track records in developing innovative cancer drugs in both China and the US.

Founder, President, and CEO, Dr. Laura Benjamin said, "Oncologie has built an all-star team of creative drug developers committed to revealing the full potential of our exciting pipeline that is positioned to maximize the benefits cancer immune therapy can bring. Oncologie has created a global leading clinical pipeline since its inception earlier of this year. We look forward to working together with our partners to bring safe and effective cancer therapies to the market."

"Oncologie is leveraging the opportunity to run clinical trials in both the US and China to develop drugs for the global market," said Jimmy Wei, PhD, managing partner of the Pivotal bioVenture Partners China Fund. "We think these coordinated efforts will shorten the time between launching innovative drugs in the US and China. Since there are too many undifferentiated PD-1/PD-L1 programs in China with very few combination trials ongoing, Oncologie has positioned itself as the leader in immune combination therapies."

"We are very glad to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Benjamin to build this company," said Peter Bisgaard, managing director of Nan Fung Life Sciences. "Laura brings with her 20 years of experience as a researcher at Harvard Medical School as well as an executive in the industry, and she has built an outstanding team of experts."

Oncologie raised 16.5M USD in a seed round recently. The round was led by Pivotal bioVenture Partners China Fund and joined by Nan Fung Life Sciences, China Merchant Bank Investments and Volcanics Ventures.

About Pivotal bioVenture Partners China

Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, a member of Nan Fung Life Sciences, is a venture capital firm specializing in venture building in the life sciences industry. Pivotal China closed on $150 million for its first fund and is setting up an additional $50 million equivalent RMB fund. Its investment strategy is centered on identifying promising innovative products and technologies and bringing them to build new companies in China. The Pivotal team includes experienced life science investors and entrepreneurs with a track record of venture building and scientific acumen.

About Nan Fung Life Sciences

Nan Fung Life Sciences, part of Nan Fung Group, is a global investment platform focusing on life sciences. Leveraging on Nan Fung Group's strong capital base and long-term commitment to the area, the company is aimed to become the ideal partner for scientists, entrepreneurs, corporations and investors in the life science space. Through direct investments via Pivotal BioVenture Partners funds (both in the US and China) and fund investments covering full spectrum of the industry (including therapeutics, medical devices and diagnostics) and across different development stages, Nan Fung Life Sciences has significant presence in both the US and Greater China.

About ONCOLOGIE

ONCOLOGIE is an oncology therapeutics company committed to delivering better outcomes for cancer patients through an improved understanding of which patients will benefit from each drug in the pipeline. The current pipeline is focused on mid-stage clinical programs that modify the immune system to enhance efficacy of current standards of care and emerging immunotherapy agents. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Shanghai, China, Oncologie is working with global partners to acquire and develop innovative drugs for cancer patients around the world. WWW.ONCOLOGIE.INTERNATIONAL 

SOURCE Oncologie

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