Kymab Secures US$100 Million Series C Funding

CAMBRIDGE, England, November 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Kymab Group Limited ("Kymab"), a leading monoclonal antibody biopharmaceutical group, announced today that it has successfully secured a US$100 million (£81 million) Series C financing. The financing was led by new investors ORI Healthcare Fund L.P. ("ORI Fund") with participation by Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd ("Hepalink"), as well as follow-on investments from existing shareholders: Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Malin Corporation plc; CF Woodford Equity Income Fund and Woodford Patient Capital plc.

The funds will enable Kymab to advance its proprietary pipeline of first-in-class therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies, the first of which is commencing clinical development in 2017.

Dr. Dave Chiswell, CEO of Kymab, said: "We are delighted to welcome new investors ORI Fund and Hepalink and thank our existing investors for their continued support in our goal of building Kymab into a sustainable global biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of products in four main therapeutic areas: immuno-oncology; auto-immunity; haematology and infectious disease. ORI Fund and Hepalink bring deep experience of the pharmaceutical industry. Hepalink has a global reach for their products and have biologics manufacturing capability in the US. This investment will help us maximise the potential of the Kymab pipeline as we develop and commercialise monoclonal antibody medicines for patients world-wide."

Ms. Simone Song, Senior Partner of ORI Fund, added: "We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to invest in Kymab which is equipped with world class technologies, world class programs, a world class team and world class investors. We look forward to working with Dave and his team to fully realise the potential of Kymab as it enters into the clinic with a global presence."

Mr. Li Li, President and Chairman of Hepalink, continued: "We have had a biologics strategy for a number of years and believe Kymab has one of the most comprehensive humanised transgenic antibody platforms which is already delivering first-in-class antibodies. We are pleased to invest in a world leading antibody company and look forward to potential collaborative opportunities with Kymab."

Kymab is using the Kymouse™ transgenic human antibody platform to discover and develop fully human monoclonal antibody drugs. Data published in Nature Biotechnology demonstrate that the Kymouse technology yields an antibody library constituted from 100 trillion different antibodies. From this deep library rare high-quality antibodies can be selected and developed into therapeutics.

Antibodies are one of the best-selling classes of drugs today; five of the top ten best selling drugs are antibodies. This is because antibodies are natural products with exquisite specificity and potency, and generally have superior safety profiles. The challenge has been to capture the full human antibody repertoire and to recapitulate all its attributes.

The Series C follows the US$120 million Series A & B financings.

For further information contact:

Kymab:
David Chiswell, Chief Executive Officer
Anne Hyland, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +44 (0)1223 833 301, Email: [email protected]

Don Powell
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)1223 515436
Mob: +44 (0)778 6858220

Hume Brophy:
Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur and Hollie Vile
Tel: +44 (0)207 862 6390, Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors

About Kymab
Kymab Group Limited ("Kymab") is a leading biopharmaceutical group focused on the discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibody drugs using its proprietary Kymouse antibody platform.
Kymouse has been designed to maximise the diversity of human antibodies produced in response to immunisation with antigens. Selecting from a broad diversity of fully human antibodies assures the highest probability of finding that rare drug candidate with best-in-class characteristics. The Kymouse naturally matures these molecules to highly potent drugs obviating the need for further time-consuming modifications. Kymab is using the platform for its internal drug discovery programmes and in partnership with pharmaceutical companies. Kymab commenced operations in 2010 and has raised over US$220m of equity financing which includes $100m Series C financing. It has an experienced management team with a successful track record in drug discovery and development and has numerous therapeutic antibody programmes in immuno-oncology, auto-immunity, haematology, infectious disease and other areas.
http://www.kymab.com

Kymab, Kymouse, are trademarks of Kymab Limited.

About ORI Healthcare Fund (ORI Fund)
ORI Fund is a US$200 million venture capital fund focused on investing in innovative companies with disruptive technologies in the healthcare industry globally. The fund is founded by Ms. Simone (Hong Fang) Song, former investment banker and head of China Healthcare at Goldman Sachs. The team consists mostly of former Goldman Sachs bankers and healthcare scientists.

About Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Hepalink)
Hepalink distributes its products, including Heparin Sodium API, in the global market to international pharmaceutical companies, such as Sanofi-Aventis, Fresenius-Kabi, and Novartis. Hepalink was established in 1998 and went public and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on May 6, 2010 (stock code "002399"). Hepalink's headquarters are located in the Shenzhen High-Tech Park. Hepalink has established a comprehensive quality management system in line with China GMP standards and the US and European cGMP standards and regulations. Hepalink manufacturing facilities are approved by the U.S. FDA and EU regulatory authorities, and it is also one of the primary participants in the revision of the USP pharmacopeia standards.

SOURCE Kymab