Biotheus has announced the successful completion of a fourth round of financing, co-led by General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity investor, and IDG Capital, a global leading investment firm. Other new investors include Kunlun Capital, CPE, and Cowin Capital, with participation by previous investors Highlight Capital, Shiyu Capital, New Alliance Capital, Huajin Investment, and others.

Founded in 2018, Biotheus is a clinical development stage company with the mission of treating cancer and autoimmune diseases through next-generation therapeutics. This is supported by the company’s product pipeline, which consists of over 10 novel monoclonal and multispecific antibodies. Biotheus currently has two bispecific antibodies in phase I clinical development for cancer treatment, and a third IND application was submitted at the end of 2020. With this new investment, Biotheus will further increase its investment into its research activities with the aim to have five novel drugs into clinical development by the end of 2021, and drive multiple programs into late-stage clinical development,

Regarding this round of financing, Mr. Xiaolin Liu, President and CEO of Biotheus, remarked, “We are pleased that our efforts have been recognized and supported by leading investors like General Atlantic and IDG Capital. The continued support from our previous investors is also testament to our company’s progress, execution and the strength of our pipeline. This round of financing will fund the development of our existing product pipeline and the construction of our manufacturing facility. With the strong support of all our investors, we will fully drive the development of our product pipeline, strengthen our position in the global market for cancer immunotherapy, and bring much-needed innovative treatments and options to a larger population of cancer patients.”

Mr. Lefei Sun, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare for China at General Atlantic, added, “In a short period of time, Biotheus has developed a differentiated and competitive pipeline of next-generation therapies, underpinned by an efficient R&D engine and a premier founding team with a successful track record of antibody development. Taken together, we believe that Biotheus is strongly positioned as an emerging player in the global biopharmaceutical landscape. We look forward to supporting Biotheus and its leadership team to accelerate the development of their deep product pipeline and advance innovative, life-saving cancer treatments to the commercial stage.”

“Led by Mr. Xiaolin Liu, the core team of Biotheus has extensive experience in the development of novel antibody drugs,” said Dr. Tao Huang, Vice President of IDG Capital. “Biotheus has built multiple platforms critical for drug development and a product pipeline with a strong competitive advantage. The construction of their manufacturing base has also begun. We believe Biotheus has significant growth potential.”

About Biotheus

Founded in 2018, Biotheus is an up-and-coming biotech company focused on curing malignant tumors and autoimmune diseases. Biotheus is committed to research and development, and commercialization of premier innovative biologics mainly through the discovery of next-generation multispecific antibodies. Biotheus has completed four rounds of financing. In addition, Biotheus has received support from the Zhuhai government through a number of initiatives and policies that drive local innovation.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

About IDG Capital

Started from 1993, IDG Capital was the first firm to bring foreign venture capital into China. IDG Capital has always been pursuing long-term value investing and focused on developing extraordinary companies through our expertise in private equity and venture capital. After nearly 30 years of development, IDG capital has accumulated asset under management of about 150 billion RMB, invested more than 1,000 companies and with over 200 successful exits. IDG Capital focuses on leading companies in the fields of TMT, new consumer and service, entertainment, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and clean energy, with companies expanding from early stage to growth stage, IPO and M&A. IDG Capital investment portfolio in healthcare includes: MGI Tech, Colortech Bio, Ping An Good Doctor, Edigene, HiFiBio, Analytical Biosciences, Zhenge Biotech, Gensciences, Microtech Medical, Keya Medical, Accutar Biotech and Lyvgen.

About Kunlun Capital

Kunlun Capital was founded in 2015, focusing on investment in technologically innovative enterprises. It operates in a dual-currency model of USD and RMB. The current asset management scale exceeds RMB 10 billion. Kunlun Capital pays attention to innovative business models driven by technology, products, and data, and seeks entrepreneurial teams with globalization potential and localization capabilities by selecting leading companies in subdivisions. Kunlun Capital has successively invested in Opera, DaDa, Pony.AI, KEYA Medical, MicroPort CardioFlow, EdiGene, OBiO, PingCap and other companies.

About CPE

CPE is an alternative asset manager with extensive China experience and, at the same time, an international perspective. With a long-term vision and value investment strategy, CPE provides innovative investment solutions to leading firms from the following five key sectors – healthcare, consumer and internet, technology and industrial, software and enterprise services, and real estate. Currently with its successful long-term performance, CPE’s funds under management are supported by over 200 domestic and international institutional investors across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The core investment team has completed more than 200 investments globally and has an outstanding track record in multiple USD and RMB funds with a total AUM exceeding RMB100 billion, enabling the firm to accumulate key sector knowledge and a widespread business network. With a solid investment and research process, strong sector expertise and professional portfolio management capabilities, CPE builds long-term relationships with its portfolios in order to drive their value creation and sustainable growth.

About Cowin Capital

Cowin Capital Group was established in 2000 year as China’s one of the first professional private placement Equity Investment Company focusing in Chinese market.

Cowin Capital has 20 years of experience in capital management, whose capital management scale was among top tier of the field with more than 20 billion RMB under and has generated extraordinary returns. Cowin Capital group focuses on investing on pioneering enterprise in long-term basis, supporting companies long term development. Cowin has invested more than 500 companies over the years and more than 90 companies become public companies.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (“Centessa”) launched today as a novel asset-centric pharmaceutical company designed and built to advance a portfolio of highly validated programs. Our asset-centric R&D model applied at scale has assembled assets led by specialized teams committed to accelerate development and reshape the traditional drug development process. The company was founded by Medicxi and raised $250 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing led by General Atlantic and co-led by Vida Ventures and Janus Henderson Investors. Additional blue-chip investors participated in the financing, including Boxer Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Wellington Management Company, BVF Partners L.P., EcoR1 Capital, Franklin Templeton, Logos Capital, Samsara BioCapital, LifeSci Venture Partners and an undisclosed U.S.-based, healthcare-focused fund.

In conjunction with its launch, Centessa has completed the merger of 10 private biotech companies (“Centessa Subsidiaries”) that will each continue to develop its assets with oversight from the Centessa management team. Each Centessa Subsidiary team is asset-focused, in that it prosecutes a single program or biological pathway, with leadership provided by subject matter experts who are given a high degree of autonomy to advance each program. With a singular focus on advancing superior science, combined with proprietary capabilities, including structure-based drug discovery and design, the subsidiary teams enable Centessa to potentially develop and deliver impactful medicines to patients.

“The vision of Centessa is to build a pharmaceutical company with a unique operational framework that aims to reduce some of the key R&D inefficiencies that classical pharmaceutical companies face because of structural constraints,” said Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D., co-founder and Partner at Medicxi and Chairman of the Centessa Pharmaceuticals Board of Directors. “Our operations will be driven by an asset-centric approach, whereby each Centessa Subsidiary is solely focused on the execution of its programs with oversight from the highly experienced Centessa management team. The ambition of applying asset centricity at scale is to be able to deliver life altering medicines to patients with improved efficiency by boosting R&D productivity.”

Our Approach

Centessa brings together 10 companies from Medicxi’s portfolio with 15 high conviction programs led by experienced teams. Each Centessa Subsidiary is led by industry leaders and subject matter experts with deep experience directly related to key biological pathways that underpin the programs being advanced. These entrepreneurs who have catalyzed the creation of subsidiary companies will continue to advance novel science within the Centessa enterprise.

The Centessa Subsidiaries are comprised of ApcinteX, Capella BioScience, Janpix, LockBody, Morphogen-IX, Orexia Therapeutics, Palladio Biosciences, PearlRiver Bio, Pega-One, and Z Factor. The current Centessa Pharmaceuticals portfolio consists of four clinical stage programs, including two that are in late-stage clinical development, and more than 10 additional programs spanning diseases with high unmet need across oncology, hematology, immunology, inflammation, neuroscience and rare diseases.

“With this first-of-its kind model, we are bringing together programs with robust genetic and biological validation under one new pharmaceutical company that provides centralized resources to enable and empower asset-focused teams to advance highly impactful programs for patients,” said Saurabh Saha, M.D., Ph.D., Centessa’s Chief Executive Officer. “This approach encourages an environment where scientific teams are incentivized to maintain an unwavering focus on advancing medicines to key go/no-go inflection points based on data-driven decisions.”

Centessa will have the flexibility to deploy capital by adhering to a “follow-the-data” philosophy and will support each Centessa Subsidiary with centralized capabilities that enable advancement of its respective programs. These include manufacturing, regulatory and operational support to enable and expedite scientific prosecution of programs by subsidiary teams. Each team is uniquely incentivized to expeditiously interrogate key scientific hypotheses.

Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer, Advisor of Centessa added, “In creating Centessa, we have strategically assembled our subsidiary portfolio to include programs with strong biological validation, mechanistic diversification, and teams with proprietary capabilities and insights. This high quality portfolio aims to deliver enhanced diversification, reduced risk and asymmetric upside with a view to withstanding the inherent low probability of success associated with drug development.”

Meet the Team

The Centessa Pharmaceuticals management team consists of biotech and pharmaceutical industry leaders who oversee decisions related to capital allocation, development plans and strategic transactions in partnership with the Centessa Subsidiaries.

Saurabh Saha, M.D., Ph.D., former Senior Vice President, R&D, and Global Head of translational medicine at Bristol Myers Squibb has been appointed as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. In addition, Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D., former Chief Scientific Advisor of Operation Warp Speed, former Chairman of R&D at GlaxoSmithKline, and Partner at Medicxi, has been appointed as Chief Scientific Officer, Advisor.

The Centessa Board of Directors includes Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D., Medicxi, who will serve as the company’s Chairman; Aaron Kantoff, Medicxi; Brett Zbar, M.D., General Atlantic; and Arjun Goyal, M.D., M.Phil., Vida Ventures.

“We believe Centessa represents a unique opportunity in our sector,” said Brett Zbar, M.D., Managing Director and Global Head of life sciences at General Atlantic. “The high-quality science and entrepreneurial drive within each of the Centessa Subsidiaries, combined with this deeply experienced leadership team, has the potential to bring important medicines to patients with speed and efficiency.”

“Centessa’s bold vision and unique operating model are supported by compelling clinical programs, strong data and a stellar team,” said Arjun Goyal, M.D., M.Phil., Co-Founder and Managing Director at Vida Ventures. “We believe Centessa’s approach can ultimately lead to impactful medicines that will benefit patients globally.”

ABOUT THE CENTESSA SUBSIDIARIES

ApcinteX

ApcinteX is developing SerpinPC, a specific inhibitor of the anticoagulant protease activated protein C (APC), for the treatment for hemophilia A and hemophilia B, with or without inhibitors.

Capella BioScience

Capella Bioscience is developing CBS001, a neutralizing therapeutic monoclonal antibody to the inflammatory membrane form of LIGHT (known as TNFSF14), for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Capella BioScience is also developing CBS004, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody to blood dendritic cell antigen 2 (BDCA2), for the treatment of lupus erythematosus (systemic and cutaneous) and systemic sclerosis.

Janpix

Janpix is developing a novel class of selective dual-STAT3/5 small molecule monovalent degraders for the treatment of various hematological malignancies, including leukemias and lymphomas.

LockBody

LockBody is pioneering a platform technology to develop LockBody CD47 (LB1) and LockBody CD3 (LB2) for optimal targeting of solid tumors by the innate immune system.

Morphogen-IX

Morphogen-IX is developing MGX292, a protein-engineered variant of human bone morphogenetic protein-9 (BMP9), for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Orexia Therapeutics

Orexia Therapeutics is developing oral and intranasal orexin receptor agonists using structure-based drug design approaches. These agonists target the treatment of narcolepsy type 1, where they have the potential to directly address the underlying pathology of orexin neuron loss, as well as other neurological disorders characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness.

Palladio

Palladio is developing lixivaptan, an oral non-peptide, new chemical agent that works by selectively suppressing the activity of the hormone vasopressin at the V2 receptor, as a treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease with the goal of slowing the progression of kidney function decline and avoiding the liver safety issues associated with tolvaptan.

PearlRiver Bio

PearlRiver Bio is developing ​potent and selective oral exon20 insertion mutation inhibitors intended to have ​minimal activity on wild-type EGFR and optimal pharmacokinetic properties, ​for the treatment of EGFR exon 20 insertion (with potential to target and treat Her2 exon 20 insertions) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PearlRiver Bio is also developing oral inhibitors targeting C797S-mutant EGFR and undisclosed next generation EGFR inhibitors for NSCLC.

PegaOne

PegaOne is developing imgatuzumab, a humanized, non-fucosylated, anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and other solid tumor indications.

Z Factor

Z Factor is developing ZF874, a small molecule chemical chaperone intended to rescue folding of the Z variant of alpha-1-antitrypsin, increasing serum levels of active protein and reducing accumulation in the liver, for the treatment of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency.

ABOUT CENTESSA

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited is a next-generation biopharmaceutical company that aims to reshape the traditional drug development process. The company applies an asset-centric R&D model at scale to advance a portfolio of highly validated programs led by industry leading teams. Each program is developed by an Centessa Subsidiary and supported by a centralized infrastructure and the Centessa management team. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, visit www.centessa.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements we make in this press release may include statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are usually identified by the use of words such as “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “plans,” “projects,” “seeks,” and variations of such words or similar expressions. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act and are making this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor provisions. These forward-looking statements, including statements relating to expectations, plans and prospects regarding the clinical development plans and timing, clinical trial designs, clinical and therapeutic potential, and strategy for any of our programs reflect our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects, which are based on the information currently available to us and on assumptions we have made. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to, the success of clinical trials, regulatory filings, and approvals. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Centessa’s management team as of the date of this release and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Furthermore, Centessa operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment in which new risks emerge from time to time. Except as required by applicable law, we assume no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Kalbe Genexine Biologics (“KGBio” or “the Company”), a leading integrated biologics holding company focused on the in-licensing, clinical development,  and manufacturing of novel biologicals and biosimilar molecules, today announced that General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, will invest US$55 million in primary capital in the Company. The investment will support KGBio’s ongoing clinical development and commercialization needs, asset acquisition plan, and production capacity expansion efforts.

KGBio’s ambition is to play a leading role in increasing biological and biosimilar drug availability in the Southeast Asia region. Founded as a joint venture between Kalbe Farma, a leading healthcare and pharmaceuticals company in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and Genexine, a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company in South Korea, KGBio is positioned for strategic growth. A combination of factors, including affordability constraints and lack of local manufacturing capabilities, have slowed the penetration of biologicals in the region. Biologicals have emerged as an important category of drug development over the past 20 years, with breakthrough advances in disease management, particularly in areas such as immuno-oncology, a key focus area for the Kalbe Group and KGBio. KGBio has built robust capabilities in clinical development and manufacturing and plans to leverage Kalbe Farma’s strength in distribution and global networks to create a large portfolio of biologicals for the Southeast Asia region.

Irawaty Setiady, President Commissioner of Kalbe Farma, said, “Biologicals is a key growth lever for the Kalbe Group. As an R&D-driven organization, we are committed to bringing global innovation in medicine and improving the accessibility and affordability of critical drugs for patients across the Southeast Asia region. We welcome the opportunity to partner with General Atlantic, a leading global investor in life sciences, to help realize our vision in Southeast Asia and beyond.”

Sandeep Naik, Managing Director and Head of India & Southeast Asia at General Atlantic, said, “We admire KGBio’s vision to bring affordable, high-quality biological products to Southeast Asia and look forward to working in partnership with Kalbe Farma and Genexine to advance this mission. With significant existing momentum, we believe KGBio is positioned to becoming a leading biologics platform in the Southeast Asia region as the Company continues to scale.”

Dr. Sung Young-Chul, CEO of Genexine and commissioner of KGBio, said “We are very pleased to have General Atlantic come onboard as a partner in KGBio. Genexine shares Kalbe Farma’s vision to create a leading biotech platform for the Southeast Asia region. Our partnership with Kalbe to bring leading global biotechnology innovation has been very successful so far, and we look forward to the next phase of growth as this new alliance helps us bring our goal closer.”

Sie Djohan, Director of Kalbe Farma and CEO of KGBio, said, “Our partnership with General Atlantic represents a new milestone in KGBio’s growth trajectory beyond Indonesia and Southeast Asia. As a global player in life sciences, General Atlantic brings an extensive network and deep expertise in innovation that KGBio aims to leverage. Having made considerable progress in the clinical development, regulatory approvals and commercialization of our novel and biosimilar molecules, we aim to further expand our portfolio and reach with the support of Genexine and General Atlantic as our partners.”

Ashish Saboo, Managing Director and Head of Indonesia at General Atlantic, said, “KGBio is committed to meeting the challenging healthcare needs of the Southeast Asia region by providing effective, affordable treatments for chronic health conditions. The Company is underpinned by Kalbe Farma’s leading R&D and governance standards, strong portfolio, integrated facilities, experienced management team, and extensive distribution network, as well as Genexine’s clinical development expertise. We are thrilled to back KGBio on their journey to drive global biotechnology innovation.”

About Kalbe Genexine Biologics (KGBio)

KGBio aims to provide high-quality, affordable, and innovative biologics, biosimilars, and immuno-oncology products to the Southeast Asia market. KGBio was founded in 2016 as a joint venture between Kalbe Farma Tbk (IDX:KLBF), a leading pharma company in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and Genexine (KOSDAQ: 095700), a South Korea-based clinical-stage biotechnology company.

KGBio has licensed two advanced clinical-stage biological drugs (PD-1 for various oncology indications, and a third-generation Erythropoietin for CKD-induced anemia) and one early clinical-stage novel biological drug:

• PD-1 Antibody (HLX10): HLX10 is a humanized anti-PD1 monoclonal antibody. It is being evaluated for the treatment of multiple tumor indications, as well as chronic hepatitis B infections. KGBio has taken licenses for squamous non-small-cell lung cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma indications in which global phase III studies are in progress.
• EPO hyFc (GX-E4): GX-E4 is a novel long-acting erythropoietin-hybrid Fc fusion protein. It is being evaluated in a phase III study for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease in Southeast Asian countries, Taiwan, and Australia.
• CD73 Antibody (TJD5): TJD5 is a CD73-antagonistic antibody. CD73 is the rate-limiting enzyme that converts extracellular AMP to adenosine, a potent immunosuppressive molecule in the tumor micro-environment. TJD5 is being evaluated in a phase I study in combination with Atezolizumab.

KGBio fully owns Innogene Kalbiotech (“Innogene”) and holds a controlling stake in Kalbio Global Medika (“Kalbio”). Innogene is a biosimilar platform and currently has four monoclonal antibody drugs (Rituximab, Nimotuzumab, Trastuzumab, and Bevacizumab). Kalbio is a biological manufacturing facility with bioreactor capacity for mammalian cell-lines. For more information, please visit the website: www.kg-biologics.com.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

About Genexine

Genexine, Inc. (KOSDAQ:095700) is a clinical stage biotechnology company, focused on the development and commercialization of immunotherapeutics and long-acting biologics in South Korea. It develops hyFcTM platform, a proprietary technology designed to drive the discovery of various differentiated agonistic protein therapeutics, and the Immune Enhancing Technology, a therapeutic DNA vaccine technology. For more information, please visit the website: www.genexine.com.

About Kalbe Farma

PT Kalbe Farma Tbk (IDX:KLBF) is a leading pharmaceuticals company in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It was established in 1966 and is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. Kalbe Farma operates in four main divisions: prescription pharmaceuticals, consumer health, nutrition, and distribution and logistics. For more information, please visit the website: www.kalbe.co.id.