HANGZHOU and SHAOXING, China, Dec. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --Ascletis, a China-based biotechnology company focused on innovative drug development, announced today that Goldman Sachs completed a US$20 million investment in the company. So far, Ascletis has completed two rounds of financing within the past two months. The first round of US$35 million investment was led by C-Bridge Capital, Tasly Pharmaceutical and Pavilion Capital.
Proceeds from this round of financing will be used to strengthen Ascletis' R&D capacity, and broaden the scope of its R&D pipeline.
"Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment bank. Their investment into Ascletis is a testimony to the success and potential of the company. It also shows that we are getting increasing international recognition, which is very encouraging," said Jinzi Wu, PhD., Ascletis' founder, President and CEO. "2015 is an important year in the history of Ascletis, as we continue to deliver results in the HCV field, and move forward with the construction of our manufacturing facility. In the future, we will continue to develop our existing products and explore new opportunities with domestic and global partners through a flexible, open and innovative business model, with the aim of effectively delivering new products to China and the rest of the world."
"We are pleased to be an investor and partner of Ascletis. The company is well-positioned to become an important player in the HCV market and other key drug categories in China. We look forward to working closely with the talented team at Ascletis, and contributing to the success of the business." Commented by Stephanie Hui, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, and Head of Merchant Banking Division in Asia Pacific (Ex-Japan).
Ascletis is dedicated to discovering and developing new treatments for infectious diseases and cancer. The company is currently focused on HCV treatment regimens. With its two direct-acting antiviral agents (i.e. ASC08 and ASC16), Ascletis provides both triple therapy as well as interferon-free-all-oral-combination therapy to Chinese HCV patients. As of now, the interferon-free-all-oral-combination therapy is undergoing phase II clinical study in Taiwan and the triple therapy has received overall China Food and Drug Administration approval for clinical trials. It is now undergoing trial implementation in China.
About Ascletis
Ascletis is a domestic biotechnology company in China with a global strategy. It is dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing new treatments for infectious diseases and cancer. Ascletis has assembled an entrepreneurial management team together with a strong research team with global pharmaceuticals background. To date, the company owns four products that are in the clinical phase with proprietary intellectual property rights. These include ASC08, an HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor licensed from Roche; ASC16, an HCV NS5A protease inhibitor licensed from Presidio Pharmaceuticals; ASC06, a first-in-class RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of liver cancer licensed from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; and ASC09, a next-generation HIV protease inhibitor licensed from Janssen. For more information, please visit www.ascletis.com.cn (in China), or www.ascletis.com (outside of China).