SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals, based in Shanghai, China, launched with a $100 million Series A financing.
SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals, based in Shanghai, China, launched with a $100 million Series A financing. The round was co-led by Lilly Asia Ventures Fund and Arch Venture Partners. They were joined by Boyu Capital, General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital China, TF Capital and Zoo Capital. The company will also have a hub in Philadelphia.
The founder and chief executive officer of SciNeuro Pharma is Min Li, former professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Li was also Venture Partner at Lilly Asia Ventures and senior vice president and Global Head for R&D neurosciences at GlaxoSmithKline.
SciNeuro will focus on key central nervous system (CNS) diseases and plans a mix of internal R&D and strategic partnerships, to develop its pipeline.
Li feels like they are the first biotech company in China to focus in this area. He was running GSK’s R&D group in Shanghai before the company shuttered the program in 2017. Li then went to GSK’s operations in Philadelphia, but about a year later left GSK as the British company shifted its focus mostly to oncology. It was at that time that Min Li jumped to Lilly Asia Ventures.
Min Li came in to handle GSK’s operations after the UK-based company was impacted by a major China scandal that resulted in almost $500 million fines on charges of bribery. That scandal caused GSK’s China general manager and four other company managers, to be sentenced to prison terms. Reilly was immediately deported.
Li stated, “One in every six people in China is living with a CNS condition, yet there are relatively few effective treatments available today, underscoring the urgent need to develop and deliver novel, effective therapies. The impact of CNS diseases extends beyond patients—to their families and society as well.”
He went on to say, “I am humbled by the shared commitment from our investors. With their support, we are committed to addressing this substantial need by establishing a strong and innovative CNS product portfolio, and providing new and improved treatment options in patients in China and around the world.”
Although specific indications have not been reported, the suggestion is they will look at treatments for Parkinson’s disease and pain in addition to rare genetic diseases. The focus at the moment is on scaling up staffing. The company has about 10 staffers now but hope to bring on 60 to 70 in 2021.
Additional executives include Qiuqing Ang, chief medical officer, who was formerly chief scientific officer at Klus Pharma. She also held leadership positions at Eli Lilly, Pfizer and GSK for CNS clinical development. Danny Chen is senior vice president and Head of Translational Science. Chen was formerly executive director at Pfizer Neuroscience R&D. Paul Stead is the company’s chief business officer. Stead held business development leadership and transactional roles with Adaptimmune Therapeutics, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Nimbus Therapeutics and GSK.
The company’s board of directors includes Judith Li and Yi Shi of Lilly Asia Ventures, Robert Nelsen of Arch Ventures, and Min Li.
The original goal of the Series A round was $75 million, but investor enthusiasm led to a $100 million investment.
Part of the build-out in the China market is a shift of Chinese patients from traditional Chinese medicines toward modern therapeutics. Another factor is better genetic insight into the diseases and potential ways to treat them.
