Hangzhou, China, June 6, 2018 - Dedicated to developing global antibody and recombinant protein biotherapeutics, Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics (HJB) announced today the completion of a $35 million Series B+ financing round.
Hillhouse Capital (Hillhouse), a Beijing and Hong Kong-based investment firm, leads the financing, with participation by existing investors Temasek, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), ARCH Venture Partners, Taikang, and BOCGI Zheshang Capital. Including this round, HJB has secured over $140 million in financing.
In the last year, HJB has focused predominantly in 3 areas: The completion of the R&D Center and Manufacturing Facility located in Hangzhou, establishing its R&D and clinical development capabilities and building a world-class team by attracting top talent around the world.
“We have achieved remarkable milestones in a short time, but we need to continue to build on our successes. With this additional investment, we will be able to ramp up our R&D capabilities globally, and boost our pipeline by engaging in broader partnerships. We are now on our way to beginning clinical trials for several of our assets, ” said Dr. Yining ZHAO, co-founder and CEO of HJB.
As the lead investor, Hillhouse Capital said, “Innovative medicine has great market growth potential because it can truly create value for society, serving patients in and outside China. Hillhouse has always valued medical research and innovation. We appreciate HJB’s capabilities and promising future in the field of bio-pharmaceutical research and development and are willing to support the firm’s long-term growth using the principles and methods of value investing.”
HJB was founded in 2016 as a joint venture with Seattle-based Just Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Just) by four former Amgen executives. The company’s state-of-the-art biomanufacturing and process development platform enables it to develop and manufacture antibody and recombinant proteins at a reduced cost and accelerated speed while maintaining global quality standards. The company’s core strengths lie in the design process, which can be deployed throughout the biotherapeutic life cycle, from molecular design all the way to drug product. HJB’s pipeline currently consists of assets in areas of high-unmet need including immunology, hematology and metabolism. HJB employs a team of over one hundred scientists and engineers at its sites in China and US, and is led by seasoned executives from Amgen, Sanofi, Tensha, Genentech and Novartis.
About Hillhouse Capital
Hillhouse Capital Group (Hillhouse) is a company dedicated to long-term value investing. Founded by Lei Zhang in 2005, it has grown to be China’s biggest private equity investment company. Hillhouse focuses on the healthcare, consumer, TMT, advanced manufacturing, finance and corporate services sectors, and has invested in many household names in China including Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, Midea, Blue Moon, Belle International and Nio. Bio-pharmaceuticals and healthcare has always been one of our most important areas of investment. Aiming to be a long-term partner with companies developing innovative medicine, Hillhouse has invested in and supported a number of medical enterprises, including Wuxi Apptec, BeiGene, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences, Innovent Biologics and Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical. In Europe and the United States, we have invested in Moderna, Viela, Kiniksa, Apellis and Arcus, among other dozens of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
For more information, please refer to www.hillhousecap.com.
About Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics
Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics (HJB) is a biotherapeutics platform company that integrates the design, development and manufacture of biologics. With deep experience in the fields of protein, process and manufacturing sciences, the HJB team came together to solve the scientific and technical hurdles that block access to life changing protein therapeutics; from the design of therapeutic molecules to the design of the manufacturing plants used to produce them. Our focus and passion is to create access and value for a global market through scientific and technological innovation.
For more information about HJB, please visit www.justbiochina.com.
Source: Hangzhou Just Biotherapeutics