Chinese drug startup Hinova raises 1 billion yuan to target prostate cancer and gout
Barely seven years old, Hinova has promising new drugs in the pipeline and plans for an IPO.
Hinova Pharmaceuticals, a Chinese drug development startup based in Chengdu, has raised nearly 1 billion yuan ($147 million) from China-based institutional investors, and appears to be planning for an IPO.
- Founded in 2013, Hinova raised $32 million in January 2020, and $40 million in 2019.
- The firm focuses on research and development of treatments for cancers and metabolic diseases and claims to be “one of the fastest growing start-up drug discovery and development companies in China.”
Prostate cancer and gout are the targets of Hinova’s most promising drugs in the pipeline. The new round of financing will support “multi-center clinical trials and the commercialization of the firm’s drug candidates in China and internationally,” according to Deal Street Asia.
- There were 1.3 million new cases of prostate cancer worldwide in 2018. The American Cancer Society’s estimates for the U.S. for 2020 are about 191,930 new cases and 33,330 deaths.
- Gout affects about 40 million people worldwide, and about 8 million in the U.S.
Hinova is recruiting a CFO whose first responsibility per the job description would be: “Formulate the IPO listing plan, which will include drafting relevant documents for company presentation and roadshow during Pre-IPO and IPO and investor contact.”
Money is pouring into Chinese drug developers. Last month, XtalPi — a firm that says it uses “quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and high-performance cloud computing algorithms” to develop new drugs — raised $320 million, giving it a valuation that “may exceed $1 billion according to one investor” cited by Caixin.
