Founded in 2018, Reistone, the drugmaker for immuno-inflammatory diseases, will accelerate the launch of First-in-Class and Best-in-Class drugs with the first external financing round.
Reistone Biopharma (Chinese: 瑞石生物) announced the completion of a Series A financing round valued at nearly USD 100 million today.
This round was led by Huagai Capital (Chinese: 华盖资本) and Capital Healthcare Fund (首都大健康基金). Yunion Health Investments (Chinese: 楹联健康基金)、Zhangjiang Haoheng Innovative Equity Investment Management (Chinese: 张江浩珩)、Zero2IPO Industry Investment (Chinese: 清科产投) and Hanne Capital (Chinese: 翰颐资本) also participated in the deal.
The proceeds will be used to accelerate clinical R&D processes of novel drugs for autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases and to advance the developent of other drug candidates.
Reistone, incubated by Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals (Chinese: 恒瑞医药), is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drugs for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) with unmet medical needs.
SHR0302 is one of the core candidates. It is a highly selective and potent janus kinase type 1 (JKA1) inhibitor which blocks the signal transduction pathways in mediating inflammatory symptoms and is undergoing the clinical trial in both oral and topical form.
In January 2021, SHR0302 pill was granted breakthrough therapy designation by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to treat moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis for patients among adults and teenagers aging 12 years or above.
The Phase II clinical trial of SHR0302 pill has reached the endpoint for indications including atopic dermatitis, ulcerative colitis and alopecia areata. SHR0302 ointment has also entered Phase III clinical trial for mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. In addition, two other blockbuster candidates SHR1459 & RS1805 inhibitor have also entered the phase II clinical trials.
In the context of current drastic changes in the capital market and the intensified competition in the pharmaceutical industry, this financing round marks the market's validation on Reistone .
Reistone’s competitor includes KeyMed Biosciences (Chinese: 康诺亚) and 3s-Guojian (Chinese: 三生国健) which also develop drugs for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.