Chinese biotech startup D3 Bio, a precision medicine developer, has closed its Series A funding round at $200 million to support the development of the firm’s portfolio in oncology and immunology.

Chinese private equity firm Boyu Capital, Matrix Partners China, Sequoia Capital China, Singapore state investor Temasek and Hong Kong-listed pharma WuXi AppTec’ corporate venture fund joined the round.

In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on the same day, WuXi AppTec disclosed that it agreed to invest $21 million for 21 million Series A-1 shares in D3 Bio, which represents nearly 16.7 per cent of the startup’s issued share capital.

“D3 Bio employs a new approach, surveying the clinical landscape rather than only following laboratory insights, to identify the unmet patient needs and to match patients with optimal therapies,” said WuXi AppTec in the filing.

Harnessing insights from clinical development, D3 Bio identifies new disease targets and delivery methods in immunology and oncology to match patients with optimal therapies to treat their diseases.

The startup said that having a clear understanding during preclinical development both of relevant cancer biomarkers and the therapeutic improvement or replacement goals will make drug discovery and development “as efficient and focused as possible.”

D3 Bio was co-founded by George Chen, an oncologist veteran who previously held senior positions at firms such as Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and the National Institutes of Health. The other co-founder, John Jin, is a founding partner at healthcare-focused PE firm Hanne Capital and a former executive at Chinese biotech firm BeiGene and Taipei-based TaiGen Biotechnology.

Before the Series A round, Chen and Jin held a 55 per cent stake and a 45 per cent stake respectively in D3 Bio, according to WuXi AppTec’s filing.

“D3 Bio intends to create a robust portfolio comprised of internal core assets that can be leveraged for follow-on development as well as in-licensed early-stage clinical assets,” said Chen.’

This article was originally published by Deal Street Asia