HONG KONG and SAN FRANCISCO, January 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ally Bridge Group ("ABG"), a global healthcare-focused investment platform, has expanded its global biopharmaceutical portfolio with several recent investments in first-in-class therapeutics companies based in China, the United States and Europe. ABG will work closely with these companies by taking active board of directors and/or scientific advisory board positions.
In China, ABG led the recently completed financing for Hua Medicine (www.huamedicine.com), a Shanghai-based clinical-stage therapeutics company developing an oral small-molecule drug for Type II diabetes. Importantly, Hua has identified specific biomarkers and will use them to select patients. In 2015 Hua will begin its Phase II clinical trial in China under the Green Channel Status (comparable to the Fast Track Status of the U.S. FDA), and will also begin a U.S. Phase I clinical trial. There are more than 100 million diabetics in China, where locally-developed innovative drugs are greatly needed in order to address the massive and growing diabetes-related medical needs of the Chinese population.
In the U.S., ABG completed investments in: 1) 3-V Biosciences (www.3vbio.com), an oncology drug development company based in Menlo Park, California, targeting fatty acid synthase (FASN) in various solid tumors; 2) Symic Biomedical (www.symicbio.com), a company based in San Francisco developing a novel category of therapeutics treating osteoarthritis and vascular diseases; 3) Alzheon (www.alzheon.com), a Boston-based clinical-stage therapeutics company developing a first-in-class treatment for Alzheimer's disease, which represents ABG's first neurology therapeutics investment; 4) ImmunGene (www.immungene.com), an existing ABG portfolio company based Thousand Oaks, California, which has developed a unique empowered antibody therapeutics technology platform based on antibody-interferon fusion molecules.
In Europe, ABG invested in Pieris Pharmaceuticals (www.pieris.com), a Munich-based, clinical-stage, multi-specific antibody drug delivery technology platform that has partnered with several global biopharmaceutical companies, and which was recently listed in the U.S.
"Ally Bridge Group, while continuing to build out its oncology, especially immuno-oncology, portfolio in both the U.S. and Europe, has also established strategic footholds in other large therapeutic areas, such as diabetes, neurology and inflammation. All of these investments, together with our existing specialty-pharma portfolio in the U.S., have strengthened and diversified ABG's global biopharmaceutical reach," said Frank Yu, ABG's Founder, CEO and CIO. "With our roots in Asia, and our investments in the U.S. and Europe, we are becoming a truly global healthcare investment platform that differentiates itself by enabling partnerships between emerging healthcare companies and industry leaders, and by acting as a bridge between China and the U.S. We are very pleased to work hand-in-hand with a number of top-tier healthcare funds in the U.S. and leading industry partners."
About Ally Bridge Group
Ally Bridge Group ("ABG"), founded and led by Frank Yu, is a global healthcare-focused investment platform. Recently ABG has added Internet investing to its strategy. ABG and its affiliates manage over $700 million in assets with a global investment portfolio in China, the U.S., and Europe. ABG has expertise in cementing strategic partnerships between emerging healthcare companies and industry leaders, and across different geographies, particularly between the U.S. and China.
Contact:
Mattan Lurie
Vice President
Ally Bridge Group
Tel: 852-3121-9628
mattan.lurie@ally-bridge.com
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