Lynk Pharmaceuticals picked up $50 million in series B funds Friday to bankroll three assets through phase 1 and 2 trials.
The Hangzhou, China-based biotech has received the green light to run clinical trials for three drugs in the U.S. and China.
Lynk began a phase 1 trial of its triple kinase inhibitor in patients with primary myelofibrosis and secondary myelofibrosis earlier this month. The trial is being led by investigators at the Revive Research Institute in Michigan and has an estimated completion date of October 2023.
The biotech also received clinical trial approval in China for its kinase inhibitor aimed at treating inflammatory bowel disease in June.
The cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases biotech linked arms with Kobe University of Japan and the RIKEN Research Institute last July to develop RAS inhibitors. The biotech said it received nearly $200 million in upfront and milestone payments for a preclinical technology transfer to an undisclosed U.S. company in April 2020.
Lynk was founded in 2018 by CEO Zhao-Kui (ZK) Wan, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer Jun Wang, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer Chen Ji and Head of Chemistry Michael Vazquez, Ph.D. Wan was a head of chemistry at Johnson & Johnson and is co-founder of the Chinese American BioMedical Association. Wang was a research fellow at Merck from 2000 to 2008 and a former vice president at Shanghai Medicilon, and Vazquez was an associate fellow at Pfizer for more than a decade.
Lilly Asia Ventures led the series B, with participation from New Alliance Capital, Hangzhou HEDA Biological Medicine Venture Capital Partnership and original backers Legend Capital and Med-Fine Capital. The biotech previously raised a $20 million series A+ in December 2020.