In a securities filing, GenScript, originally founded in the US in 2002 by Chinese principals, said the money will go toward building up manufacturing capacity and investment in further R&D development, with some cash reserved for acquiring assets to develop its CDMO business.

The latest effort was supported by GenScript’s majority shareholder, Chinese venture capital fund Legend Capital in addition to major backer Hillhouse Investment, which also played a major role in the last round.

Huatai Securities, GF Securities and China's Industrial Bank also participated in ProBio's series C share issue, along with several other Chinese state-backed funds, the GenScript filing showed.

Over the past several years, Genscript has made rapid strides toward becoming a leading player in the China’s gene and cell therapy market, thanks in major part to its fundraising success.

The just completed $224 million C-Series raise follows a $150 million Series-A raise in September 2021, backed by Hillhouse and other investors who contributed to a $37 million Series B increase in early 2022.

GenScript subsidiary Legend Biotech partnered with Johnson & Johnson’s biopharma arm, Janssen Biotech, on the development of the CAR-T cell therapy Carvykti, which last year was approved  by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat multiple myeloma.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist