AusBio Pharmaceuticals Secures Over RMB 400 Million in Series C Funding to Expand CDMO and Cell Culture Media Businesses; Files IPO Prospectus

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals (“Thousand Oaks”), a rapidly growing contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and cell culture media biotechnology company, announced today that it completed its Series C financing of over RMB 400 million in March 2021. This round was co-led by China State-owned Capital Venture Capital Fund Co., Ltd. (“China SOE Fund”) and GL Ventures, with participation from new investors including CDH Investments, Honghui Capital, Sino-US Green Fund, and Sany Foundation, as well as existing shareholders such as Gold Stone Investment Co., Ltd., CICC Capital, and funds under Fosun Group. iCapital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing round.

“The new investment will be used to expand production capacity for our CDMO and cell culture media businesses,” introduced Dr. Luo Shun, Chairman and President of Thousand Oaks. “In the cell culture media sector, through Jianshun Biology, we have established stable and close collaborations with numerous domestic biopharmaceutical companies and human/animal vaccine manufacturers, becoming China’s largest supplier of mammalian cell culture media. In the CDMO sector, over the three-plus years since its launch, we have cumulatively served more than 40 clients, achieving high-speed growth in annual orders. This round of financing will help us build the world’s largest cell culture media production base and an internationally leading CDMO platform. We are delighted to receive support from renowned investment funds and investors such as China State-owned Capital Venture Capital Fund, CDH Investments, Honghui Capital, Sino-US Green Fund, and Sany Group. Furthermore, Series B investors including GL Ventures, Gold Stone Investment, CCI Capital, and funds under Fosun have made additional investments in this round, demonstrating our strategic investors’ confidence in the company and the industry’s development prospects.”

Established in 2016 with a total scale of RMB 200 billion, the China National Fund for Industrial Investment is a national-level industrial investment fund approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council. The fund primarily invests in sectors such as technological innovation and technical upgrading, aiming to enhance the autonomy and controllability of supply chains in China’s strategic emerging industries. Biopharmaceuticals is one of the key sectors targeted by the fund.

GL Ventures, the venture capital fund under Hillhouse Capital focused on early-stage innovative companies, covers key sectors including software and hard technology, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices, consumer internet and technology, and emerging consumer brands. Biopharmaceuticals and medical devices have long been a core investment focus for Hillhouse; over the past decade, Hillhouse has invested in more than 200 outstanding enterprises in the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare services sectors. We aim to partner with companies as “friends of time,” jointly driving innovation and development in the broader healthcare industry to benefit more patients.

CDH Investments is one of China’s most influential alternative asset management firms, with six core business segments: private equity, innovation and growth, securities investment, real estate investment, mezzanine capital, and wealth management. Its investment portfolio spans retail and consumer goods, industrial manufacturing, financial institutions, high-tech services, healthcare, real estate, and other sectors.

HLC Capital (“HLC”) is an investment firm focused on the “Healthy Living” sector, dedicated to serving leading enterprises that provide technological products and differentiated services for human diagnosis, treatment, and healthy living. HLC has conducted in-depth research and practice in the fields of bioengineering, medical devices, personal care, and health consumption. Its current portfolio includes high-quality projects such as Mindray Medical, Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology, Sansure Biotech, Joinn Laboratories, Kemei Diagnostics, and SMORE.

Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals is committed to becoming a leading enterprise in China’s biopharmaceutical industry, integrating raw materials, consumables, pharmaceutical equipment, technical services, and contract manufacturing. Focusing on CMC Biomanufacturing-related businesses, the company provides customers with one-stop services covering “R&D, process development, production, logistics, technical support, and after-sales service.” Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals boasts an international operations and technical team with many years of experience in biopharmaceutical process development and industrialization. The company offers advanced-level CDMO services and has successfully passed quality audits conducted by China’s NMPA, the U.S. FDA, and the EU’s EMA on multiple occasions. Currently, Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals has put into operation a 10,000-square-meter cGMP facility, with production capabilities for 2,000L batch culture and 500L perfusion culture. Its formulation production workshop is equipped with vial filling/lyophilization and pre-filled syringe/cartridge filling capabilities, enabling simultaneous production services for multiple products for both domestic and international customers.

Jianshun Biologics, a subsidiary of Thousand Oaks Group, was established in 2011. It currently operates advanced laboratories and production facilities in Lanzhou, Haimen, Shanghai, and San Francisco, USA. The company is primarily dedicated to the development of high-quality, high-efficiency serum-free, personalized, chemically defined cell culture media and associated process development, while also providing formulation manufacturing, technical support, and ancillary services to the biopharmaceutical industry. Its products are mainly applied in the process development and production of biopharmaceuticals, cell therapies, and human/animal vaccines. As a leading domestic supplier of industrial-grade powdered culture media, Jianshun Biologics has supported over 100 clinical projects, including more than 20 Phase III clinical trials.