Hongsheng Pharmaceuticals Secures $23.5M Funding Led by BNH Investment to Advance Cell Therapies for Asian Patients

-- By rapidly developing and commercializing innovative therapies tailored for Asian patients, Cytovant Cell Therapies is committed to becoming Asia’s premier cell therapy company

-- Cytovant Cell Therapies’ cell therapy for AML is derived from FDC101, a DC vaccine developed by Medigene, which demonstrated positive outcomes after two years of treatment in a recently completed Phase 1/2 clinical trial.

HONG KONG and SEOUL, South Korea, April 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytovant Cell Therapies, a biopharmaceutical company founded by Roivant and dedicated to the development and commercialization of cell therapies in Asia, announced today that it has completed a financing round amounting to USD 23.5 million. The round was led by BNH Investment.，POSCO Capital、Mirae Asset Venture Investment、Smilegate Investment co-invested with other leading healthcare and venture capital investors in South Korea.

Cytovant Cell Therapies’ cell therapy product CVT-DC-01 for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was developed based on the dendritic cell (DC) vaccine technology licensed from Medigene in April 2019. Medigene recently announced positive key data from a Phase 1/2 clinical study. In this study, 20 AML patients received 24 months of treatment with the DC vaccine FDC101 following completion of induction or consolidation therapy. The results demonstrated that the DC vaccine exhibited favorable feasibility, safety, and tolerability over the two-year treatment period. For the secondary endpoints, the overall survival (OS) rate and progression-free survival (PFS) rate were 80% (n = 16; 95% CI: 55–92%) and 55% (n = 11; 95% CI: 31–74%), respectively.

Cytovant Cell Therapies will leverage this round of financing to continue advancing the clinical development in Asia of CVT-DC-01 and the T cell receptor therapy (TCR-T) candidate product CVT-TCR-01.

“Asian patients have unique immune profiles, and the treatments they receive when seeking medical care may differ significantly from those given to Western patients. We are committed to developing therapies that precisely meet these needs,” said Dr. Xu Lizhong, President of Cytovant Cell Therapies. “This financing will accelerate our drug development for patients in China, South Korea, and Japan.”

“In the rapidly growing field of cell therapy, Cytovant Cell Therapies has quickly emerged as one of the most innovative companies,” said Myeong Hwan Kim, CEO of BNH Investment. “With its robust technology platform and R&D achievements in specific niche areas, we believe Cytovant is well-positioned to become a leader in this critical medical field. We are delighted to partner with Cytovant to help bring transformative therapeutic approaches to patients in East Asia.”