Biomica Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, signed on Wednesday a definitive agreement for a $20 million financing round.
The company, focusing on the development of microbiome-based therapeutics, is a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd., an Israeli computational biology company.
Biomica plans to use the proceeds from the financing round to, among other projects, complete and ongoing phase 1 immuno-oncology study and even advance the phase 2 clinical trial.
The financing round will be led by Shanghai Healthcare Capital, meaning that it's subject to closing conditions such as the clearance of Chinese regulatory authorities.
Shanghai Healthcare Capital (SHC) is a leading Chinese private equity fund, based in Shanghai and focused on biotech and healthcare investments globally. The fund’s goal is investment in early stage and best-in-class innovators with a pipeline of therapies for improving the lives and long-term outcome of patients.
"We are delighted to welcome SHC to Biomica as a strong value-adding shareholder and we are grateful to our existing shareholders and partners for their continued support," said CEO of Biomica Dr. Elran Haber. "We look forward to working closely with our shareholders, as we continue our advancements and meet our milestones in the coming years."
SHC's senior advisor, Dr. Jing Bao, said that "microbiome research is an attractive field for SHC" because "it could potentially benefit a very large Chinese population."
Shanghai Pharma 'plays a strong role in China’s Live Biotherapeutic Product industry'
Bao, who received her PhD from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, explained that Shanghai Pharma – one of the founding and strategic limited partners of SIIC Capital, which manages the funds of SHC – "plays a strong role in China’s Live Biotherapeutic Product industry."
Evogene CEO and President Ofer Haviv said, "This external and independent endorsement validates our belief in the long-term potential of Biomica. It shows that all our hard work in building and investing in Biomica’s development, whose underpinning technology leverages our AI tech engine, MicroBoost AI, is a successful strategy and continues to bear fruit."
MicroBoost AI is a computational technology engine developed by Evogene that combines advanced computing capabilities of big data and artificial intelligence alongside extensive biological knowledge.
Adv. Tehila Levi Laty and Adv. Tamir Chagal from Sullivan & Worcester Law Firm Represented Biomica in this financing transaction.