Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals Secures Over RMB 300 Million Series A Funding Led by Lianxin Capital

On January 1, 2019, at the dawn of the new year, Auscan Biopharmaceuticals (Haimen) Co., Ltd., located in the Haimen Science and Technology Park in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, officially announced the completion of its Series A financing round, raising over RMB 300 million. The round was led by Lianxin Capital, with participation from Yida Capital, Tianhui Sumin Investment, Binghong Capital, Qianrong Chuanghe Capital, Jilin Aodong Pharmaceutical, and Lanwan Sci-Tech Innovation Capital Group (Lanwan Capital). Notably, Lanwan Capital, which had served as Auscan Biopharma’s angel investor, made an additional investment in this round. Representatives from Lianxin Capital, Yida Capital, and Tianhui Sumin Investment joined the board of directors of Auscan Biopharmaceuticals. This financing represents the largest single funding transaction recently completed in the biopharmaceutical CDMO and cell culture media sectors.

Auskang focuses on CMC bio-manufacturing for biopharmaceuticals, helping clients deliver high-end biologics that are accessible and affordable to people worldwide, while steadfastly supporting the biopharmaceutical industry. Auskang has established an integrated industrial layout encompassing raw materials, consumables, pharmaceutical equipment, technical services, and contract manufacturing. It provides customers with one-stop services from gene fragments to marketed drugs, including cell line development, media optimization, cell culture process development, purification process development, formulation process development and stability studies, analytical method development and validation, outsourced testing services, and pilot-scale and commercial-scale (GMP-compliant) production. The company supports the manufacturing and regulatory filing of preclinical and clinical trial samples as well as commercial products. As a significant milestone in Auskang’s development, the funds raised in its Series A financing round will be used to expand its CDMO production capacity.

In addition, the Phase II culture media plant of Jianshun Bio, also located in the Haimen Science and Technology Park in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, broke ground today. Designed with the latest concepts, the facility fully complies with international GMP requirements. It is expected to be completed and commence production in the second half of 2019, at which point it will become the world’s largest production base for powdered culture media.

Auskon Biologics was founded under the leadership of Dr. Luo Shun and boasts a comprehensive, experienced, and highly internationalized management team, including senior executives from BMS, A-Bio Singapore, Amgen, Merck, and Genentech. Its Haimen CDMO facility completed construction and commenced operations within one year. Having secured contracts worth tens of millions of yuan, the facility has been operating in compliance with both Chinese and U.S. GMP standards for over a year, successfully assisting clients in completing GMP batch production for multiple clinical-stage samples. It has become a trusted partner to many leading biopharmaceutical companies in China.

Osmun Biotech’s controlled subsidiary, Jianshun Bio, was founded in Lanzhou in 2011. It is engaged in the research and development and production of serum-free culture media, committed to breaking the long-standing monopoly held by imported media manufacturers. Currently, it provides culture media products and services to numerous large-scale vaccine and pharmaceutical enterprises on a long-term basis, consistently ranking among the leading domestic brands. Furthermore, to strengthen cost control, Osmun Biotech has collaborated closely with Zhejiang Jinyi Shengshi through independent innovation and technological R&D, making forward-looking deployments in high-value consumables and single-use bioreactors required for cell culture. These solutions are widely applicable to the preparation and production of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant protein drugs, gene therapy products, and human, avian, and veterinary vaccines.

“The landscape of the biopharmaceutical market has undergone significant changes; the era in which exclusive products dominated the market for years is gone,” said Dr. Luo Shun, Chairman and President of Ouskon Biologics. “By leveraging independent innovation and disruptive manufacturing process technologies, Ouskon significantly enhances the production efficiency of biologics. We have implemented an integrated layout for biopharmaceutical raw materials, equipment, and processing in accordance with international standards. This approach helps our clients accelerate drug development and commercialization, ensures product quality that meets international standards, improves production efficiency, and reduces manufacturing costs, thereby enabling them to maintain a competitive edge in the fiercely competitive market. Ultimately, we aim to jointly make high-end biologics accessible and affordable to people worldwide.”