Adagene Secures $50 Million Series C Financing Led by Sequoia Capital China

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned on March 27 that Adagene Inc. has officially completed its $50 million (approximately RMB 320 million) Series C financing round. The round was led by Sequoia Capital China, with participation from New World Information Technology Co., Ltd., AVIC Trust Co., Ltd., King Star Capital, and Noah Holdings.

Adagene stated that the funds raised in this round will be primarily used to complete clinical trials for novel antibody drugs currently under global IND application, as well as to advance the development of its subsequent innovative drug pipeline.

Adagene Inc. was founded in 2011 by two biomedical scientists with a track record of successful serial entrepreneurship worldwide. One of the co-founders, Dr. Luo Peizhi, boasts extensive research and entrepreneurial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with numerous original papers published and widely cited. He has spearheaded the development of multiple novel drug candidates that have entered clinical trials, establishing himself as a leading figure in antibody research and design, with particular expertise in discovering antibodies against specific targets. Dr. Luo has been honored with prestigious titles including China’s Thousand Talents Program, Jiangsu Province’s Shuangchuang Team and Talent Programs, Gusu Leading Talent, and Suzhou Industrial Park Leading Talent. He also serves as a Visiting Professor at Peking University and Soochow University.

Dr. Peizhi Luo served as a Founding Scientist at Xencor and founded Abmaxis in 2000, where he successfully led the development of novel antibody design and display technologies. He spearheaded fundraising efforts with corporate partners and venture capital firms, and led negotiations for the corporate acquisition of Abmaxis by Merck & Co. In 2006, Merck acquired Abmaxis, delivering a tenfold return on investment. During his tenure as Director of Biological New Drug Development at Merck, Dr. Luo was twice awarded the Special Achievement Award.

Adagene is committed to building “a dynamic precision antibody platform with independent intellectual property rights and a unique pipeline of original antibodies.” According to its official information, the company integrates artificial intelligence, computational biology, bioinformatics, and genetic engineering technologies to precisely design and construct a proprietary dynamic precision fully human antibody library (DPL). This platform seamlessly integrates target display with high-throughput antibody screening for the first time, enabling precise matching of targets and antibodies, and has now become the world’s largest physical antibody library. The platform can generate antibodies with cross-species reactivity, facilitating rapid translation of medical research. Meanwhile, the lead antibodies identified through this platform exhibit excellent developability, accelerating the development of stable cell lines and downstream manufacturing processes for the aforementioned antibody drugs.

Currently, Adagene has established an original product pipeline featuring novel mechanisms and new targets, with multiple products rapidly advancing through clinical development.

Adagene has completed two rounds of financing, raising over RMB 300 million. Investors include F-Prime Capital (formerly Fidelity Boston Biotech Fund), FSD Capital Venture (formerly Fidelity Growth Fund), Tonghe Yucheng, Jinpu Health Fund, and New World Information Technology.

“In recent years, tumor immunotherapy has been thriving, with a continuous stream of R&D achievements targeting PD-1/PD-L1. Adagene Therapeutics is more focused on addressing the patient population that has not responded to existing targets, thereby meeting clinical needs unmet by current oncology immunotherapy products,” stated Dr. Luo Peizhi. “The innovative drug that Adagene Therapeutics has submitted to the U.S. FDA for approval features a unique target mechanism, and no drug with this mechanism has been approved for marketing internationally.”

Neil Shen, Global Executive Partner of Sequoia Capital, commented on this financing round: “Adagene’s core technologies and R&D team are already at the forefront of the field. Leveraging its existing technology platforms, Adagene can flexibly scale up to continuously develop next-generation, superior antibody drugs, thereby showcasing original innovation from China. By leading this investment in Adagene, Sequoia China aims to support and accelerate the company’s efforts in translating its world-class platforms and technologies into therapeutic products, so that more effective novel antibody drugs can benefit human health sooner.”