HiRO Secures Tens of Millions in Series A Funding Led by OrbiMed to Advance Global Clinical Trial Solutions

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) learned at the earliest opportunity that on March 18, 2022, Shanghai Harvest Integrated Research Organization (“HiRO”) announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-of-US-dollars Series A financing round.This round of investment was led by OrbiMed, with existing shareholder Fengchuan Capital continuing to increase its stake.The proceeds from this financing round will be primarily used to accelerate the expansion of HiRO’s overseas markets, facilitate talent acquisition, enhance digital clinical management capabilities, and advance multi-center clinical trials in China and globally.

HiRO, established in 2020, is an innovative clinical research company. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company currently maintains branch offices in Beijing, Taipei, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. HiRO is led by a world-class management team whose core members possess an average of over 20 years of industry experience. The company is dedicated to providing innovative and efficient clinical development services to biotechnology enterprises in China and around the world by focusing on innovation and data analytics. It aims to help Chinese domestic biotechnology companies bring their products to the global market, while also assisting foreign biotechnology companies in introducing their products to China.

In December 2021, HiRO acquired Pharmaceutical Solutions (“PharmaSols”), a CRO firm operating in Australia and New Zealand. With over 20 years of experience in conducting Phase I–IV clinical trials, PharmaSols enables HiRO to leverage patient resources in Australia and New Zealand, helping clients accelerate global clinical trial timelines and reduce costs, thereby delivering higher-quality, cost-effective clinical trial services to biotechnology companies.

Former Global Head of Clinical Operations at Parexel, a globally renowned CRO, and Founder and CEO who spearheaded HiRO’s growthDr. Karen Chu stated“We are delighted to have secured support from world-class professional healthcare investors in this financing round. Their participation will accelerate our global expansion, as well as the development of our management team and our advisory and clinical teams. We are committed to serving all clients seeking to conduct clinical R&D in the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. For biotechnology companies, it is crucial to thoroughly understand complex medical requirements and regulatory pathways. HiRO’s experienced core clinical research team will provide customized services at every step for our clients.”

Dr. Karen Chu further stated: “The global biopharmaceutical market is experiencing rapid and stable growth. Driven by technological advancements, industrial structural adjustments, and continuously increasing R&D investment, the scale of China’s biopharmaceutical market is also on a steady upward trajectory. The year 2022 will be one filled with both opportunities and challenges for the biopharmaceutical industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn extensive attention from the government and investment institutions to China’s pharmaceutical R&D sector. The national policy encouraging pharmaceutical innovation will undoubtedly drive the sustained and rapid progress and development of the CRO industry. With the addition of numerous international high-end talents and the support and empowerment of renowned investment institutions, HiRO will accelerate its iterative upgrades, providing higher-quality and more efficient clinical research services to biotechnology enterprises both domestically and internationally.”

As the lead investor in this round,Wang Dasong, Global Partner at OrbiMed, stated“We are highly optimistic about HiRO’s growth prospects as a global clinical CRO platform. As an innovative emerging force in the industry, HiRO’s founding team boasts extensive experience in industry management and global project execution. The team has accumulated rich professional service expertise, whether in interpreting regulatory policies or gaining insights into customer needs. With continuous team expansion and the introduction of high-end talent, HiRO is well-positioned to provide comprehensive, one-stop solutions meeting client demands across R&D, clinical development, and industrialization layouts in the global biopharmaceutical sector. We look forward to witnessing mutual success and shared growth between HiRO and its clients.”

Fengchuan Capital CEO Xiang Duan stated“We are delighted to participate in this critical phase of the company’s development and in this round of financing. We firmly believe that, under the leadership of Dr. Karen Chu, who brings a diverse Eastern-Western management style, decades of clinical experience, and a global perspective, HiRO will grow into a leading enterprise in the CRO sector within the next three to five years.”

Shanghai Harvest Integrated Research Organization (HiRO) is an innovative clinical research organization (CRO) based in China with a global outlook, headquartered in Shanghai. HiRO possesses global operational and integration capabilities and is committed to providing end-to-end services and solutions to clients worldwide. HiRO aims to become a market-leading, comprehensive global clinical research organization, working alongside rapidly growing biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies to continuously lead pharmaceutical products from the laboratory to the market, delivering more cost-effective solutions for patients worldwide. As a close partner to pharmaceutical companies, HiRO provides comprehensive, customized services grounded in the effective use of real-world data and guided by a “concierge” service philosophy.

OrbiMed is dedicated to identifying and supporting biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies that advance human health. With approximately $18 billion in assets under management, OrbiMed has focused on global healthcare investments for over two decades. Its investment portfolio spans biopharmaceuticals, life sciences technologies, medical devices, healthcare services, and diagnostics, covering stages from early-stage startups and growth-phase companies to mature enterprises and post-IPO entities. The investment team comprises more than 100 distinguished professionals worldwide, with expertise in life sciences, medicine, finance, and law.

Fengchuan Capital was established in 2015 as a private equity investment fund focused on frontier biopharmaceuticals, life sciences, and related industries. Its team members hail from top-tier financial institutions or pharmaceutical companies. Since its inception, Fengchuan Capital has leveraged rigorous industry insights, unique business resources, and the ability to explore cross-border opportunities, committing itself to identifying medical and pharmaceutical enterprises that promote human health and supporting their growth into industry leaders.

PharmaSols, established in 2000, is a clinical research organization (CRO) providing clinical trial management and regulatory services for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in Australia and New Zealand. PharmaSols collaborates with research institutions and sponsors to deliver high-quality, real-time clinical trials. Recognized as one of the region’s leading clinical trial experts, the company offers cost-effective, innovative solutions in study design and planning, feasibility assessments, clinical site selection, regulatory and legal compliance, patient recruitment, and study completion. Over the past two decades, PharmaSols has built strong and reliable relationships with partners, clients, key opinion leaders, clinical sites, and investigators across multiple countries and regions, enabling it to provide high-quality client services.