Ascentage Pharma Secures RMB 500 Million Series B Financing to Advance Global Development of Innovative Targeted Anti-Cancer Therapies
Jiangsu Ascentage Pharma Development Co., Ltd. (“Ascentage Pharma”) has successfully completed its Series B private financing, raising RMB 500 million. This significant transaction marked a notable conclusion to the 2016 investment and financing activities in China’s biopharmaceutical sector. The round was led by the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Investment Fund, managed by SDIC Innovation Investment Management Co., Ltd. (“SDIC Innovation”), with participation from new investors including Shiyu Capital, Qianlong Investment, and Founder Korea Investment, as well as existing Series A investors such as Yuanhe Origin, Yuanming Capital, and Yifeng Venture Capital. China Renaissance served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing.
Ascentage Pharma is a globally renowned, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company headquartered in China with a global outlook. The company has successfully established its strategic product portfolio across three major therapeutic areas: oncology, hepatitis B, and age-related diseases. Ascentage’s pipeline includes five international innovative drug candidates with “First-in-Class” potential and three with “Best-in-Class” potential, six of which have entered Phase I–II clinical development in China, the United States, and Australia. The company’s products target novel dual-pathway regulators of apoptosis and autophagy, including Bcl-2, IAP, and MDM2-p53, as well as clinically validated mature targets such as ALK, Bcr-Abl, and c-Met. The proceeds from this financing round will support Ascentage Pharma in accelerating the clinical development of its product pipeline and the construction of its industrialization facilities.
Mr. Lv Dazhong, Managing Director of SDIC Innovation, stated, “As a professional private equity management firm, SDIC Innovation actively seeks equity investment opportunities and major industrial layout projects that align with industry development trends, possess key technologies, and hold promise for commercialization. The healthcare sector, particularly the field of innovative drugs, is a top priority for our fund’s investments. Ascentage Pharma has achieved one major breakthrough after another in the area of novel targets for dual-pathway regulation of apoptosis and autophagy, which constitutes the key focus and highlight attracting our investment. We believe that under the leadership of its management team, centered around three national distinguished experts from the ‘Thousand Talents Plan’—Dr. Yang Dajun, Dr. Wang Shaomeng, and Dr. Guo Ming—Ascentage Pharma is poised to become a leading China-originated innovative pharmaceutical company globally, delivering breakthrough products in the three therapeutic areas of oncology, hepatitis B, and age-related diseases.”
Ascentage Pharma’s core team was among the first globally to engage in the research and development of novel small-molecule inhibitors targeting dual pathways of apoptosis and autophagy regulation, with its corresponding drug development programs maintaining a leading position worldwide in this field. For many years, the high uncertainty surrounding the druggability of apoptosis-targeting small-molecule inhibitors, coupled with the extreme challenges inherent in their development, deterred numerous pharmaceutical companies or caused them to abandon their efforts midway. After three decades of global R&D endeavors, the first approved drug in this class finally emerged in April 2016: Venetoclax, a Bcl-2–targeting small-molecule inhibitor co-developed by AbbVie and Genentech. This drug received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on three separate occasions. This milestone further underscores Ascentage Pharma’s unique vision and unwavering commitment in the field of apoptosis research.
Dr. Yang Dajun, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Ascentage Pharma, stated, “We are delighted to see the increasing policy support in China for new drug development, and even more encouraged by the emphasis and proactive investments placed by professional investment institutions, represented by SDIC Innovation, in the field of original innovative drugs developed in China. We are honored that this round of financing has attracted significant attention from numerous investors, and we welcome the participation of new investors in subsequent stages. Following the completion of this financing round, the Company will accelerate the clinical development of its portfolio of original innovative drugs both domestically and internationally, promptly initiate the construction of industrialization facilities, and actively prepare for U.S. market listing, thereby realizing Ascentage’s vision of becoming a world-class biopharmaceutical enterprise. We look forward to working with our investors to accelerate development, research, and production of more effective and safer original innovative drugs from China, bringing benefits to patients across China and around the globe.”
In early 2016, Ascentage Pharma partnered with UNITY Biotechnology, a leading U.S. company in the anti-aging sector, to jointly develop innovative therapeutics for age-related diseases. This collaboration has further enhanced the therapeutic potential of Ascentage’s drug candidates beyond the field of oncology. Dr. Yang Dajun also stated, “For a long time, we have firmly believed that only through originality and leadership can we deliver more differentiated clinical value to patients, carve out a place for China in the global arena of new drug development, and generate higher financial returns for the company and its investors.”
Cao Jian, General Manager of Yuhua Capital, stated: “With its deep roots in the healthcare industry, Yuhua Capital will provide Ascentage Pharma with multiple complementary resources in future product development, industry insights, and sales channels, serving as a strong backing for the company.”
Xie Yijing, Managing Director and Head of the Healthcare and Life Sciences Division at China Renaissance, stated, “China Renaissance is honored to have assisted Ascentage Pharma and its scientific team in successfully completing this round of financing. We firmly believe that Ascentage, as a quintessential example of startups founded by next-generation scientists in China’s and the global biopharmaceutical industries, is poised to become a global leader in the field of apoptosis and emerging anti-aging therapeutic research.”
Ascentage Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical R&D company headquartered in China with a global outlook. Focusing on international hotspots and development trends in novel small-molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs, Ascentage Pharma designs, optimizes, and develops a portfolio of original small-molecule targeted anti-cancer therapies with independent global intellectual property rights for the treatment of cancer, hepatitis B, and age-related diseases. The company aims to fill domestic gaps in research and market offerings in these areas while expanding into the high-end international pharmaceutical market. Ascentage Pharma has established multiple core technologies in structure-based drug design and optimization targeting specific proteins and holds nearly 80 international invention patents. To date, five of Ascentage’s products have entered Phase I–II clinical development in the United States, Australia, and China.
Ascentage Pharma’s R&D pipeline primarily focuses on inhibitors of key proteins in the apoptotic pathway, such as IAP, Bcl-2/Bcl-xL, and MDM2-p53, to reactivate apoptosis in tumor cells; second- and third-generation inhibitors targeting kinase mutations that emerge during cancer treatment; and inhibitors of epigenetic targets closely associated with oncology therapy. Ascentage Pharma’s overall capabilities and standards in innovative drug development are at the international forefront.
SDIC Innovation was established in July 2009 as a professional private equity management firm operating independently in accordance with market-oriented principles. With funds under direct or indirect management exceeding RMB 50 billion, its managed capital spans state-owned capital, private capital, social security funds, and insurance funds, making it one of the largest professional private equity management firms in China.
State Development & Investment Corp. (SDIC) is a state-owned investment holding company established with the approval of the State Council, a key state-owned backbone enterprise directly administered by the central government, and one of the first pilot units for state-owned capital investment companies under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council. It also serves as an important platform for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to advance and implement major decisions and deployments of the Central Committee and national strategies. SDIC has received an A rating in SASAC’s annual performance assessments for 12 consecutive years and has been recognized as a “Performance-Excellent Enterprise” across four consecutive tenure assessment periods. The company has formed four strategic business units: basic industries, forward-looking and strategic emerging industries, financial and service sectors, and international operations.
China Renaissance Group is a leading financial institution in China serving the new economy. It comprises China Renaissance Private Equity Funds and Huajing Securities Co., Ltd., with business covering private placement financing, M&A advisory, securities underwriting, securities brokerage, asset management, and other professional services. The company is committed to providing one-stop financial services for Chinese new-economy entrepreneurs, spanning from angel rounds to IPOs, and crossing both domestic and international markets.
Headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and New York, China Renaissance Group employs over 400 professionals. Since its establishment in 2004, the firm has successfully assisted clients in completing nearly 370 transactions, including initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions (M&A), convertible bond issuances, and private equity financings, with a total transaction value exceeding $71 billion. Notable achievements include advising on JD.com’s IPO in 2014, which was the largest U.S. listing by a Chinese company at the time; facilitating major M&A deals in 2015 such as the merger of Didi and Kuaidi, the combination of 58.com and Ganji.com, and the strategic partnership between Dianping and Meituan; and securing significant financing rounds in 2016, including RMB 6.65 billion for JD Finance, $3.3 billion for Meituan-Dianping, and $4.5 billion for Didi Chuxing.