Financing led by Invesco Developing Markets Fund, joined by a syndicate of new and current investors
Proceeds will support accelerating clinical development programs in the United States and China
Brii Biosciences (“Brii Bio”), a multi-national company developing innovative therapies for diseases with significant unmet medical needs and large public health burden, today announced completion of a Series C financing of US$155 million. The financing, participated by existing and new investors, was led by Invesco Developing Markets Fund, with significant additional funding provided by GIC and another global leading investment management organization, followed by Lake Bleu Capital and an Asia-based leading investment organization, as well as three current investors.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Brii Bio’s broad infectious diseases pipeline as well as the company’s CNS program.
“Since our founding in 2018, Brii Bio has made tremendous progress toward our mission to accelerate the development and delivery of breakthrough medicines through partnerships and our own insight in highly differentiated medicine discovery,” said Zhi Hong, Ph.D., CEO of Brii Bio. “As we work to address some of the world’s biggest public health issues and disease burdens, we are pleased and honored to have the support of investors who share our mission to discover, develop and deliver innovative treatments for patients not only in China, but throughout the world.”
Brii Bio is currently conducting clinical studies in multiple infectious diseases, and is preparing to enter clinical-stage research in diseases of the central nervous system. The company’s programs include:
- HBV: Initiation of a phase 2 study of BRII-835 (VIR-2218) in combination with BRII-179 (VBI-2601) in patients who are chronically infected with HBV is planned for March 2021, and will be the subject of a separate announcement.
- COVID-19 antibody therapies: BRII-196 and BRII-198, non-competing SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies are part of the Phase 2/3 studies under ACTIV-2 master protocols, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
- Multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections: BRII-636 (OMNIvanceTM), BRII-672 (ORAvanceTM) and BRII-693 (QPX-9003) are potent antibiotics against WHO-designated critical pathogens for the treatment of carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii.
- New HIV treatment options – Once Weekly Single Tablet Regimen (QW STR): phase 1 clinical study for BRII-778 has started and a U.S IND for BRII-732 was submitted in March. The company will investigate the potential of prolonged dosing interval for treatment of people who live with HIV.
- Novel treatment for central nervous system (CNS) disease: The phase 1 clinical trials for BRII-296 will begin shortly under a U.S. IND.
