On August 27, 2021 Shenzhen IONOVA Life Science Co., Ltd. ("IONOVA" or "the company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area of China, reported that completion of a new financing round of USD $100 million, jointly led by Tsing Song Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group Company, Ltd. ("SCGC"), and Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, with existing shareholders Dyee Capital and Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) adding to their holdings. Life Venture served as financial advisor (Press release, Shenzhen Ionova Life Sciences, AUG 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234586973]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
IONOVA was founded in November 2016 by Dr. Yongkui Sun, a former veteran from Merck Research Laboratories for over 20 years in R&D and business development, and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering. IONOVA’s thrust is to develop a new generation of innovative targeted and immuno therapies for more effective cancer treatment.
IONOVA leadership consists of a team with extensive drug hunting experiences ranging from disease biology to early clinical development. The company’s unique research arm, Touchstone Translational Research Institute, enables the company to establish both internal disease biology-driven drug discovery programs, and external collaborations with academia and industry to translate discoveries in basic biomedical research into novel therapies for cancer treatment. IONOVA has a rich pipeline of drug candidates fighting cancers and cancer resistance. Among them, INV-1120 is in Ph I in the US.
"We at IONOVA are committed to translation of basic biomedical research discoveries into novel drugs with differentiated clinical benefits in cancer treatment. We are excited to complete this round of financing led by Tsing Song Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group Company, Ltd. ("SCGC"), and Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, three venture firms renowned in fueling growth of biotechnology in China. We are also delighted to have continued support from our earlier investors Dyee Capital and Lilly Asia Ventures. The fund will fuel rapid advancement of a growing number of preclinical and clinical oncology candidates in IONOVA pipeline. Jointly we will use our collective creativity to bring forward IONOVA innovations from the Great Bay Area to global marketplace and to the benefits of cancer patients around the world," said Dr. Yongkui Sun, founder, Chairman and CEO of IONOVA.
"IONOVA has a well-defined R&D strategy that solidly anchors on a deep understanding of cancer biology and patient needs and focuses on creating novel cancer therapeutics that have significant clinical values and clear product differentiation. To improve success of novel drug discovery efforts, IONOVA established an innovative industry-leading translational research platform that aims to harness the collective ingenuity of scientific ecosystem. IONOVA constantly strives for scientific excellence and accelerates drug development by intense focus on projects that have strong scientific rationale, combination synergy and biomarker strategy to bring our innovations sooner to patients," said Dr. Xiang S Ye, Chief Scientific Officer of IONOVA.
"It’s our honor to support IONOVA, as well as continue to boost the company’s promising research and development pipeline. We believe there remains a variety of untapped opportunities in the global oncotherapy field. Moreover, we strongly agree with the company’s development strategy. The company has been engaged in the tumor microenvironment and immunoregulation since its founding. A synergetic pipeline of "immunotherapy + targeted therapy" has been constructed, clinical development of various drugs are being systematically and rapidly advanced, and the pipeline is also being further enriched. These all prove the strong execution capabilities of the company’s management team. We are confidently looking forward to a future where IONOVA will become the leading enterprise of innovative drugs in the oncotherapy field in China and even globally, healing patients, and fulfilling its vision," said Dr. Zhang Song, founder of Tsing Song Capital.
"IONOVA has a world-class R&D team for innovative cancer drugs. The company is equipped with experienced scientists in all areas of new drug R&D and has established a strong R&D platform for translational medicine, which continuously contributes to high-value product pipelines. All product pipelines have global interests and pay great attention to synergy; the company’s overall development strategy is highly consistent with the current policy orientation of China and development trend of the global pharmaceutical industry. We are very optimistic about the company’s future development potential, " said Dr. Xing Zhibin of SCGC.