Hong Kong clinical-stage biotechnology company Yicura BioMed has completed the first closing of a Series B financing led by Asia-focused venture capital firm Gobi Partners.
The company did not disclose the amount raised or the size targeted for the full round. According to Yicura’s November 12 announcement, strategic investors from Wuxi and institutional investors from Hong Kong also participated.
Yicura said it will use the proceeds to advance ICVAX, its therapeutic DNA vaccine candidate for HIV, and accelerate immunotherapy programs for cancers across its vaccine and antibody pipelines.
The Hong Kong Science Park-based company, formerly known as Immuno Cure, develops immunotherapies based on its PD-1-enhanced DNA vaccine and anti-Delta42PD1 antibody platforms. The financing extends Gobi Partners’ backing of the company beyond a 2023 Series A round.
Yicura said ICVAX has completed a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase I clinical trial approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration in people living with HIV who were receiving antiretroviral therapy. The company described the study’s safety and immunogenicity results as favorable, but the current financing announcement did not provide the underlying clinical data.
The company plans to move ICVAX into a Phase II trial to evaluate efficacy and whether the candidate can support more durable immune control of HIV. A positive Phase I safety or immune-response result does not establish clinical efficacy, which remains the subject of the planned next-stage study.
Yicura’s announcement did not identify the participating Wuxi or Hong Kong investors, disclose the ownership obtained by Gobi Partners, or provide a timetable for a final Series B close.
Gobi Partners is headquartered in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. The investment firm said it manages $2 billion across more than 30 investment vehicles. Those figures, along with its stated portfolio and exit totals, are company-provided.
Yicura previously raised a $12 million first tranche of a planned $27 million Series A in 2023 under the Immuno Cure name. That round was led by the AEF Greater Bay Area Fund managed by Gobi Partners GBA and also supported development of the company’s DNA vaccine and antibody programs.
The latest financing follows Yicura’s July publication of Phase I data for ICVAX and its June selection of a contract research organization for the planned Phase II study. The company has not announced when patient enrollment for the Phase II trial will begin.
Hong Kong’s Immuno Cure completes $12M first close of Series A financing led by Gobi Partners