SAN FRANCISCO, BEIJING and TAIPEI -- WI Harper Group, a leading US & China, cross-border early growth and expansion stage venture capital firm, today announced an investment in Cold Genesys Inc ("CGI"), a clinical-stage privately-held biotech company developing oncolytic immunotherapies for cancer. The insider-initiated $10 million Series B financing co-led by WI Harper and Ally Bridge Group also included participation from Whitesun Healthcare Ventures and Song Hong Fang. The funding will help Cold Genesys advance its investigational oncolytic immunotherapy CG0070 in a pivotal study (BOND II) that is currently enrolling 122 patients with high-risk, high-gradenon-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who have failed BCG therapy. In addition, capital raised from this round will be used to evaluate the combination of CG0070 with immune checkpoint modulators in multiple Phase I/II studies for solid tumor indications.
CG0070 is an investigational oncolytic immunotherapy designed to selectively replicate in tumors (but not normal tissue) and to induce an anti-tumor immune response.
Mr. Peter Liu, Chairman of WI Harper Group commented, "WI Harper is excited to partner with CGI, as they seek to revolutionize the advancement of modern cancer treatment. CGI's world-leading technology and talented management team will continue to leverage its oncolytic cancer immunotherapy to gain a dominate position in the bladder cancer space, and selectively drive expansion into other cancer types. We look forward to partnering with Cold Genesys to build a world class company." Mr. Liu further said, "We believe that CG0070 has potential to help patients in several cancer types based on its mechanism of action to promote tumor antigen release and presentation, resulting in an activation of a durable, systemic anti-tumor immune response."
"The recent success and approvals of immune checkpoint modulation therapies bring new hope to cancer patients, however, only 20-30% of the patients respond to such therapies," said Alex Yeung, MBBS, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of CGI. "CGI is committed to help more cancer patients benefit from cancer immunotherapies. We believe that the scientific and clinical rationale for combining CG0070 and immune checkpoint modulators is sound: to first activate an anti-tumor immune response with CG0070 and to block T cell checkpoints to potentially increase the anti-tumor activity relative to each agent alone."
In conjunction with the financing, Arthur Kuan, a founding member of Ally Bridge Group and Chief Operating Officer of CGI, will join the CGI Board of Directors.
About WI Harper Group
WI Harper is a global venture capital firm managing US$850 million of invested capital through dedicated professionals located in San Francisco, Beijing, and Taipei. Founded in 1996 by venture capital pioneer Peter Liu, the firm has built a fully integrated platform dedicated to investing in the U.S and Greater China. The Firm targets early-stage technology and healthcare companies using a disciplined research-focused approach, while combining value add strategies to best assist entrepreneurs in expanding across global markets. To date, WI Harper has deployed capital into over 300 investments across eight funds and seen in excess of 80 successful liquidity events.
For more information, please visit http://wiharper.com/
About Cold Genesys Inc.
Cold Genesys, Inc. is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the development of oncolytic immunotherapies to combat cancer. In 2010, Cold Genesys acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop CG0070 from BioSantePharmaceuticals. CG0070 is currently under investigation in a Phase II, single-arm, open-label, pivotal study (BOND II) for patients with high-risknon-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who have failed BCG therapy and refused cystectomy. In addition, Cold Genesys is exploring the use of CG0070 in combination with immune checkpoint modulators in different solid tumors.
For more information, please visit: www.coldgenesys.com