October 30, 2015, Tianjin CanSino Biotechnology Inc. (CanSino) celebrated the ground breaking of its vaccine manufacturing facilities well as the contract-signing with Qiming Venture Partners, Lilly Asia Ventures and other investors to increase working capital at CanSino located in TEDA, Tianjin, China. Over 100 guests representing investors, collaborators and business partners attended this event.
This ground breaking ceremony is new milestone in CanSino's 6 years history. It demonstrated that the company has transformed from R&D only to R&D and commercialization stage. It will be the first fully integrated vaccine production site to be built in Tianjin. CanSino successfully raised about US$30 million from internationally renowned venture capital firms in this round of financing. Qiming Venture Partners is the lead-investor, Lilly Asia Ventures and previous investors co-invest this round. The capital raised will be used for the research and development of innovative vaccine products, and for the construction of the manufacturing plant. Through this round of financing, the company has made a solid step towards its commercialization target.
The facility will occupy 65,000 square meters space and will be in compliance to both China and WHO GMP standard. More than ten high quality human vaccine products are planned to manufacture in this facility. The production capacity is expected to be more than 200 million doses annually. It will become one of the most valuable human vaccine production site in China.
The phase one construction will begin in November 2015 and is scheduled to complete in September 2018. Seven human vaccine products, including Ebola Virus Disease vaccine, multivalent Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Multivalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines, DTcP Vaccine will be produced in this facility. Annual production capacity will be more than 70 million doses in this phase.
Ms. Nisa Leung, managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners said “CanSino’s world-class vaccine R&D, production and quality management expertise, and the support from Tianjin government at all levels give us confidence to invest in this company. We believe that CanSino will be able to provide world-class vaccine products to promote the well-being of mankind.
Dr. Xuefeng Yu, the Chairman and CEO of CanSino expressed the deep appreciation to the great supports from all levels of governments and the trust of our investors. He said “Today’s ceremony opens a new chapter in the company’s development history. We are committed to develop high quality vaccine products to contribute to the public health, to create great returns to our shareholders, to our employees and to our community.
About CanSino
Tianjin CanSino Biotechnology Inc. (CanSino) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the R&D, manufacturing and commercialization of vaccine products for human use. The company was founded in Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) by overseas returnees in 2009. CanSino currently has assembled a research and development team of over one hundred people with well equipped leading edge scientific technologies and know-how, built a center for vaccine research and development covering an area of 6000-square meters and a cGMP production pilot-plant in line with China and European quality standards for biological products. CanSino has grown into a high-end vaccine R&D and manufacturing company in China. CanSino has submitted four Clinical Trial Applications (CTA) of high-end vaccine to China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) including "Adenovirus Type 5 Vector Based Ebola Virus Disease Vaccine", "Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Component Pertussis Vaccine Adsorbed" and Polyvalent Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine. Among those products submitted, the Ebola vaccine is the world’s third Ebola vaccine developed and is currently in phase II clinical trials in Africa. The development of Ebola vaccine with cutting-edge technologies opens a new era of China's self-developed vaccine going to the world. A number of innovative biologic projects developed by CanSino has formed the company with unique advantages of the high-end domestic bio product cluster.
About Qiming Venture Partners
Since 2006, Qiming Venture Partners has established itself as a leading venture capital firm in China and currently has four US. Dollar funds and three RMB funds with over $1.7 billion asset under management. Qiming invests in young, fast-growing, and innovative companies across China in the Internet and consumer ("Intersumer"), healthcare, information technology (“IT”) and clean technology sectors. Qinming strives to be the investor of choice for top entrepreneurs in China. It is committed to helping entrepreneurs and their companies succeed and supporting them throughout their growth to become sector leaders in China and the world. These entrepreneurs can benefit from access to our partners’ experience and global network as well as our portfolio of over 120 innovative, fast growing, and successful companies. We believe, together, we can build world’s champions of industries.
About Lilly Asia Ventures
Lilly Asia Ventures, founded in 2008, is dedicated to venture capital investments in the life sciences and healthcare sectors in Asia, particularly in China. Its investors include Eli Lilly & Co., a Fortune 500 company and one of the most globalized and innovative pharmaceutical companies in the world. As a leading biomedical venture fund in China, Lilly Asia Ventures provides wise capital, industry expertise, and global resources to its portfolio companies to accelerate their growth.