Novo Holdings co-leads Series C financing in LePure Biotech
News
January 19, 2023
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Novo Holdings, a leading international life science investor, announces it has co-led a Series C financing in LePure Biotech (LePure), a leading provider of high-quality and innovative single-use bioprocessing solutions in China.
The proceeds from the investment will be used to continue to accelerate product innovation and advance LePure Biotech’s go-to-market strategy. The consortium of world-renowned investors was co-led by Novo Holdings, General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with participation from existing investors including Highlight Capital, Bayland Capital, HM Capital. LePure plans on using this funding to accelerate product innovation, promote overseas expansion, and enhance the Company’s competitiveness and influence in the global industrial chain.
LePure is a leading bioprocessing platform in China, offering full-fledged product solutions that enable the manufacturing of macromolecular drugs. LePure was founded in 2011 by Chairwoman Qin Sunxing, a seasoned entrepreneur with deep commercial and scientific experience in the bioprocessing field. Concurrent with this round of financing, LePure has completed its acquisition of QuaCell Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“QuaCell”), marking LePure’s entry into the cell culture media business which carries substantial commercial synergies with LePure’s existing franchise. As a result, LePure’s broadened product suite now includes single use bioprocessing consumables, bioreactors, filtration and purification solutions, as well as cell culture media offerings.
Dr. Amit Kakar, Senior Partner and Head of Novo Holdings Asia commented: “LePure Biotech is an emerging star in the global bioprocessing space. Novo Holdings is excited to become LePure Biotech’s partner as the Company continues to gain strong momentum and profound recognition in the industry. This investment is deeply rooted within our deep expertise in the life science industry globally, and we look forward to working with LePure Biotech to play an integral role in the global pharmaceutical supply chain by offering high quality solutions and become one of the most trusted bioprocessing companies in China and globally.”
Frank Wang, co-founder and CEO of LePure Biotech, said: “Biopharmaceutical upstream processing consumables play an important role in biological drugs R&D and production. Since its establishment, LePure Biotech has remained committed to building sustainable scientific research and innovation capabilities by improving drug development efficiency, ensuring stable and secure pilot phase production and supporting the commercial-scale launch of new drug products. We are excited to have global investors like Novo Holdings, General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs Asset Management leading this round of financing and we look forward to our future collaboration. With the start of this new chapter, LePure will continue to focus on technological innovation and enhancing our global competitiveness to best serve our customers.”
As one of the earliest domestic providers of single use consumables and equipment for biopharmaceutical companies in China, LePure has kept its focus on improving research and development to deliver high-quality products for its customers. With significant progress made in basic materials R&D, product development and manufacturing capacity expansion, LePure is well positioned to capture industry growth opportunities on the back of therapeutic innovation and new drug launches.
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**About Novo Holdings:
**Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the operating and financial assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, one of the world’s largest enterprise foundations.
The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk and Novozymes (the Novo Group companies) and manages an investment portfolio, with a long-term return perspective. The investment portfolio comprises two teams: Life Science Investments and Novo Capital Investors. The Life Science Investments team invests in companies at all stages of development and includes Seed Investments, Venture Investments, Growth Investments and Principal Investments. Capital Investments manages a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate and infrastructure assets, as well as private equity investments.
Novo Holdings operates out of offices in Copenhagen, London, Boston, San Francisco, Singapore and Shanghai. As of year-end 2021, Novo Holdings had total assets of USD 106 billion. Further information: www.novoholdings.dk.
**About the Novo Nordisk Foundation
**Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation’s mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society.
www.novonordiskfonden.dk/en.
**About LePure Biotech
**Shanghai LePure Biotech was established in 2011. It empowers biopharma customers with high quality and innovative bioprocess solutions. LePure has comprehensive capabilities in R&D, manufacturing, and commercial operation. LePure is a customer centric company with commitment to high quality and continuous improvement. Driven by technology innovation, the company wants to be the most reliable partner of global biopharma. LePure’s product suite now includes single use system, filtration and purification solutions,cell culture media offerings after it acquired QuaCell in November 2022.
Further information: www.lepure-biotech.com.