# Elpiscience Biopharmaceuticals Co.

Startup profile on Capital Atlas: https://capitalatlas.ai/startups/elpiscience-biopharmaceuticals-co

- Industry: Biotechnology
- Headquarters: Shanghai, China
- Website: www.elpiscience.com
- Total disclosed funding: $260M
- Latest round: Series C (May 13, 2021)
- Investors on record: 17

## About

Based in Shanghai, China, and established in 2017 by CEO Darren Ji and Hongtao Lu, Elpiscience Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. also called Elpiscience (Shanghai) Biopharma, Ltd. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on cancer immunotherapy. The company employs clinical manufacturing capabilities ranging from process development, analytics, quality control/assurance, and pilot, and cGMP manufacturing. The company has collaborated with Bio-Techne for the co-development of novel immunotherapies. As of 2021, the company employs over 100 employees. The company also established branches in Suzhou, and USA.

In 2019, Elpiscience raised USD 100 million in Series B funding led by new investor Hyfinity Investments, with participation from other new and returning investors and USD 105 million in Series C funding in 2021, led by new investor Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments Limited, with participation from other new investors. Elpiscience is backed by investors such as Lilly Asia Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, Hyfinity Investments, and Great Bay Area Development Fund.

The company’s pipeline consists of more than 15 molecules in discovery focusing on innate immunity and tumor microenvironment and comprises of four major categories: adaptive immunity, innate immunity, tumor microenvironment, and tumor-specific antigens. The company focuses on biological insights to find differentiated biology in a complex immune system to eradicate tumors. Elpiscience’s pipeline drugs consist of three assets: ES101, ES102, and ES104, in the Phase I development stage of clinical trials. 

Elpiscience also provides a discovery platform that consists of three major parts: Elpisource™, a novel target discovery platform comprising of a knockout (KO) system and an overexpression system to identify specific genes required for an immune response; Immonushine™, an integrated immunology assay platform used to screen candidate drugs and assess their properties in primary immune cells and established immune cell lines; and AbLego™, a proprietary bispecific antibody platform consisting of multiple antibody formats and a systematic approach for bispecific molecules optimization. 

The company plans on advancing ES101 band ES104 to the Phase II of the development stage by 2021 and 2022 respectively. Elpiscience Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. plans on utilizing the Series C funding for expanding the global reach of Elpiscience’s research and development strategy, to advance the company’s molecules into clinical studies in the US, and explore novel mechanisms of cancer immunotherapy thereby fueling more strategic partnerships.

## Funding rounds

- Series C, May 13, 2021, $105M — CDH Investments, Lilly Asia Ventures, Oriza Holdings, Hillhouse Investment, CITIC Securities, Cormorant Asset Management, Maison Capital, DYEE Capital, Qiandao Investment Fund Management, Calor Capital, Superstring Capital Management, Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments Limited
- Series B, Dec 28, 2019, $100M — CDH Investments, Lilly Asia Ventures, GTJA Investment Group, Oriza Holdings, Tencent Investment, Hillhouse Investment, Wisdomont Capital, DYEE Capital, Hyfinity Investments, Ming Bioventures
- Series A, Dec 3, 2018, $35M — CDH Investments, Lilly Asia Ventures, Hillhouse Investment
- Angel, Jun 15, 2018 — Lilly Asia Ventures
- Series A, Apr 3, 2017, $20M — Lilly Asia Ventures

## Investors

- Lilly Asia Ventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/lilly-asia-ventures) — Series A, Angel, Series B, Series C
- CDH Investments (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/cdh-investments) — Series A, Series B, Series C
- Hillhouse Investment (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/hillhouse-investment) — Series A, Series B, Series C
- GTJA Investment Group (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/gtja-investment-group) — Series B
- Oriza Holdings (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/oriza-holdings) — Series B, Series C
- Tencent Investment — Series B
- Wisdomont Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/wisdomont-capital) — Series B
- DYEE Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/dyee-capital) — Series B, Series C
- Hyfinity Investments (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/hyfinity-investments) — Series B
- Ming Bioventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/ming-bioventures) — Series B
- CITIC Securities — Series C
- Cormorant Asset Management (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/cormorant-asset-management) — Series C
- Maison Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/maison-capital) — Series C
- Qiandao Investment Fund Management (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/qiandao-investment-fund-management) — Series C
- Calor Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/calor-capital) — Series C
- Superstring Capital Management (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/superstring-capital-management) — Series C
- Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments Limited (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/greater-bay-area-homeland-investments-limited) — Series C