Expedition Therapeutics, a biotechnology company advancing a lung disease drug licensed from China’s Fosun Pharma, said Wednesday it raised $115 million in a Series B round that would carry its experimental medicine through mid-stage testing.
The biotech launched in 2024 with a plan to in-license drugs from Chinese pharmaceutical companies and advance them through clinical testing. That strategy made it part of a growing trend in biotech startup creation, as investors are increasingly forming new companies purpose-built to capitalize on a trove of China-originated drugs.
Expedition banked $165 million in a Series A round last year and cut its first deal with Fosun. That partnership handed the company rights across most of the globe to “EXPD-101” which, under the name XH-S004, Fosun had been developing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.
EXPD-101 targets an enzyme known as DPP1, which activates certain parts of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. Neutrophils are crucial in protecting against infections, but can drive lung inflammation when overstimulated. Stifling their activity with a drug could therefore hold promise for treating multiple respiratory conditions.
That potential has attracted the attention of multiple drugmakers in recent years. Insmed licensed a DPP1-targeting drug from AstraZeneca about a decade ago and has brought it to market as Brinsupri, a bronchiectasis treatment that’s expected to become a blockbuster. Others from Boehringer Ingelheim and partners Chiesi and Haisco Pharmaceutical are in clinical testing.
