Lepu Invests in US Biopharma Rgenix, Hopes to Bring Its Cancer Drugs to China
Tang Shihua
DATE:  Oct 10 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Lepu Invests in US Biopharma Rgenix, Hopes to Bring Its Cancer Drugs to China Lepu Invests in US Biopharma Rgenix, Hopes to Bring Its Cancer Drugs to China

(Yicai Global) Oct. 10 -- Chinese healthcare firm Lepu Medical Technology plans to invest USD22 million in American biopharma Rgenix and bring its cancer therapeutics to China.

Beijing-based Lepu will lead Rgenix's USD40 million series C funding, the target said in a statement yesterday, without disclosing how much of the company Lepu will acquire. The funds will be used to support phase 1b and phase 2 clinical trials of Rgenix's small molecule immunotherapy, RGX-104; the early development of a compound that suppresses gastrointestinal cancer progression; and discovery stage programs.

"We believe RGX-104 has great potential with checkpoint inhibitors across many important cancer types," said Lepu Chief Executive Dr. Zhongjie Pu. "We also look forward to exploring possible collaborative opportunities with Rgenix as part of our goal to develop further in the oncology market together."

The deal will allow Lepu add Rgenix's cancer treatments to its product range in China, where import duties on such medicines were scrapped in May this year as the government sought to make cancer drugs more readily available to the nation's rising number of sufferers.

China makes up nearly a quarter of the world's new cancer cases, according to 2017 data from the National Cancer Center, which shows there are 10,000 new patients in the country every day, leading to two million deaths a year.

Rgenix, headquartered in New York, has two drugs currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States and another which it plans to submit for trials next year, the statement added.

Editor: James Boynton

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Keywords:   Immune Therapy,Cancer Treatment,Biotechnology,US,Rgenix,Lepu Medical