Ascentage Pharma Raises $150 Million in Series C Financing

Funding to support broad and innovative product pipeline of apoptosis-targeted candidates and build-out of state-of-the-art R&D centers and manufacturing facilities

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Ascentage Pharma

Jul 17, 2018, 07:00 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md. and HONG KONG, July 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascentage Pharma, a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing apoptosis-targeted therapies for cancers and other diseases, today announced the successful completion of approximately $150 million in a Series C financing, bringing the total capital raised since the Company's launch to around $240 million.

The financing is co-led by existing investors YuanMing Prudence Fund and Oriza Seed Venture Capital, as well as new investor Teng Yue Partners. ArrowMark Partners, HDY International Investment, CTS Capital and CCB International also participated in the round.

"With this financing, we are well positioned to achieve key data milestones as we continue to advance our growing pipeline of novel, apoptosis-targeted small molecule candidates," said Dr. Dajun Yang, Chairman and CEO of Ascentage. "With 16 active clinical trials in the U.S., Australia, and China, we believe that we are the only company with a robust portfolio of active clinical programs focused on both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways and are pleased by the continued interest and support of our investor base to realize the full potential of protein-protein inhibition in addressing these complex, but highly promising, targets in cancer and other diseases."

Commented Dr. Lawrence Tian, Chairman of YuanMing Prudence Fund: "We are committed to continuing our support for Ascentage through capital and resources. The ability to disrupt difficult-to-target protein-protein interactions could potentially transform how certain cancers are treated and enable expansion into new indications."

"We are excited about the potential of Ascentage's innovation and leading role in protein-protein interactions to enrich anti-cancer strategies and thereby make a meaningful impact on both cancer patients and society," said Eric Zhao, Partner of Oriza Seed. "Given their rich pipeline and world-class management team with complementary strengths, we are confident that Ascentage is positioned to become one of leading innovative biotech companies."

About YuanMing Prudence Fund
YuanMing Prudence Fund is a healthcare specialty fund focusing on China-U.S. cross border investments in therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics as well as healthcare service companies based in the U.S. and/or China.

About Oriza Seed Venture Capital
Oriza Seed Venture Capital, located in Suzhou Industrial Park, is held by Suzhou Oriza Holdings Ltd. Oriza Seed is a market-oriented investment platform. It looks for investment opportunities among early-stage and growth-stage enterprises in the fields of healthcare and TMT. Oriza Seed has ample resources and experiences investing in the healthcare field.

About Ascentage Pharma
Ascentage Pharma is a globally-focused, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapies for cancers, hepatitis B and age-related diseases. Based on breakthrough technology from the University of Michigan, the Company's expertise is in designing and developing therapeutics that inhibit protein-protein interactions to restore apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in cancers. Ascentage has built a rich pipeline of seven clinical candidates, including a novel, highly potent Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor, APG-1252, as well as candidates aimed at IAP and MDM2-p53 pathways, and next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. For more information, please visit www.ascentagepharma.com.

Media Contact
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SOURCE Ascentage Pharma