As Chinese biopharma companies rise on the international stage, they are increasingly finding VC partners — in the United States.
U.S. companies have long signed licensing deals with Chinese drugmakers. But increasingly American venture capitalists are building U.S.-based companies from scratch to test and ultimately seek to commercialize innovative drugs developed in China.
Most recently, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Atlas Venture, and RTW Investments co-led a $400 million Series A financing — one of the largest fundraising rounds in the biotech industry this year — to launch a new Massachusetts-based startup company called Kailera Therapeutics. The company was formed to develop and sell, outside of China, three injectable and oral weight loss drug candidates licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, one of China’s largest pharma giants.
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