NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genome-editing biotech firm EdiGene announced yesterday that it has raised $10 million in a Series pre-B Plus financing round, which was led by new investor Green Pine Capital Partners.
Series A lead investor IDG Capital and Series B lead investor Lilly Asia Ventures also participated in the pre-B Plus financing, as well as other insiders, the firm noted.
Beijing-based EdiGene — which also has operational subsidiaries in Guangzhou, China and Cambridge, Massachusetts — has developed several genome editing platforms, and is translating those technologies into novel therapeutics for genetic diseases and cancer as well as solutions for drug discovery. The company also conducts high-throughput genome screening for the analysis of functional big data in biological contexts.
"We are pleased to complete this new round of financing led by Green Pine with participation of existing investors," Wensheng Wei, who founded EdiGene in 2015, said in a statement. "As we are advancing our sciences, we look forward to working with Green Pine and our current investors to grow EdiGene into the next exciting phase."
The company also noted that Yun Li, the medical director of Parexel's global medical service, has joined EdiGene as vice president of clinical development. Li has more than 20 years of experience in clinical trials for novel therapeutics, mainly focusing on oncology, hematology, and immunological trials, EdiGene said. She has also worked in clinical development roles for Novartis China, Roche China, and Xian Janssen.
"Our portfolio is entering into an exciting stage, and this new round of financing further validates and continues to support our strategy of translating proprietary platforms into potential therapeutics to patients in need," EdiGene CEO Dong Wei added. "We are thrilled that Dr. Li joins us at this significant point of our company's development. Her extensive experiences in clinical development in hematology and oncology will help us advance our therapeutic candidates into clinics in the near future."