Hankang Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Hankang Capital (formerly known as Shanghai Jianxin Capital, 上海建信资本) is a Shanghai-based venture capital fund dedicated exclusively to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Its stated mission is "Empowering Pharmaceutical Innovation, Safeguarding Human Health" (赋能医药创新，守护生命健康). The firm is the venture capital arm of Zhongjianxin Group (中建信控股集团), chaired by Fang Zhaoyang (方朝阳), and partners closely with scientist-founders and entrepreneurs building breakthrough therapies for major diseases. While rooted in China, the firm describes its outlook as global, and several portfolio companies have executed international out-licensing and cross-border financing deals.
Sector Focus
Hankang invests almost exclusively in biotech and life sciences, with a particular concentration in:
- Oncology and ADC (antibody-drug conjugate) therapeutics
- Targeted protein degradation (TPD) small-molecule drugs
- Autoimmune and inflammatory disease biologics
- IVD (in-vitro diagnostics) and medical devices
- Innovative antibody and biologics platforms
The firm has backed some of China's most prominent innovative drug companies, several of which have gone public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) or China's STAR Market.
Stage Focus
Hankang invests across a wide band of biotech financing stages, from Series A through pre-IPO/late growth rounds, occasionally reaching back to seed for exceptional scientific teams. Deal evidence spans:
- Series A (e.g., co-led HanBio Therapeutics' $40M Series A with OrbiMed)
- Series B / Pre-A+ (Leadingtac Pharmaceutical, VelaVigo, Haobo Pharmaceutical)
- Pre-Series C and Series C (Highlightll Pharma, AusperBio)
- Series D and pre-IPO rounds as a syndicate participant (Abbisko Therapeutics)
They frequently appear as a "returning investor" across multiple rounds of the same company, indicating a follow-on reserve strategy.
Check Size
Based on observed round sizes where Hankang led or co-led ($28M-$120M total round sizes with multiple co-investors), individual check sizes are estimated in the $3M-$30M range depending on stage and syndicate composition. Confidence on precise check size is moderate, since per-investor allocations are rarely disclosed in Chinese biotech financing press releases.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Hankang has led or co-led several rounds outright (Leadingtac Pharmaceutical Series B, HanBio Therapeutics Series A jointly with OrbiMed) but more frequently participates as a syndicate member alongside larger US and China crossover funds (RA Capital, CDH, Sherpa Capital, LAV, CICC Capital, Warburg Pincus, Carlyle).
Recent Activity
Hankang has been active through 2025 and into 2026:
- August 2026: Participated in AusperBio's $120M Series C to advance its chronic Hepatitis B functional-cure pipeline (AHB-137), bringing AusperBio's total raised since 2024 to $360M.
- December 2025: Led Leadingtac Pharmaceutical's RMB 200M+ (~$28M) Series B for its targeted protein degradation (TPD) pipeline, with CDH Ventures Global Capital, Shizhen Capital, and Kangcheng Investment participating.
- September 2025: Existing investor in AusperBio's earlier financing activity around this period.
- July 2025: Participated in VelaVigo's $60M+ Pre-A+ round (led by Shunwei Capital and Everest VC) for antibody/ADC discovery.
- May 2025: Participated in AusperBio's $50M Series B+ round alongside Sherpa Capital.
- January 2025: Returning investor in Highlightll Pharma's Pre-Series C round (led by Huajin Capital, Bayland Capital, Infinity Capital).
Portfolio Highlights
Hankang states it has invested in more than 50 companies since inception. Notable names include:
- Akeso, Inc. (9926.HK) — first-in-class/best-in-class antibody biopharma, now an $11B+ market cap public company
- InnoCare Pharma — IPO'd on HKEX in 2020 and STAR Market in 2022
- Abbisko Therapeutics — completed a $123M Series D in 2021 (Carlyle, Warburg Pincus)
- Chipscreen Biosciences (688321.SH) — public oncology/metabolic disease drug developer
- Keymed Biosciences (2162.HK) — autoimmune and oncology biologics
- Duality Biotherapeutics, formerly Ying'en Biotech (09606.HK) — global ADC leader, IPO'd HKEX April 2025
- Opromai (688293.SH) — publicly listed on China's STAR Market
- Teligene Ltd (Suzhou) — anti-tumor small-molecule targeted drug developer
- AusperBio, VelaVigo, Leadingtac Pharmaceutical, Highlightll Pharma — current active portfolio in HBV therapeutics, antibody/ADC discovery, targeted protein degradation, and autoimmune disease respectively
Team
- Fang Zhaoyang — Chairman
- Chloe Chen — Managing Director, based in Shanghai
- Dr. Lin Kan — Partner (quoted representing Hankang on the Leadingtac Series B)
- Pengchong Wang — Vice President of Investment
- Rui Zhao — Senior Advisor
Third-party data providers (Tracxn) describe the investment team as five people, including three partners and one principal, based in China.
Decision Process
Partnership-led. Investment decisions and public commentary are represented by named partners (e.g., Dr. Lin Kan on the Leadingtac deal), consistent with a small partnership rather than a solo-GP or large investment-committee structure.
Founder Preferences
Hankang favors deep scientific teams solving hard-to-drug problems with differentiated platform technology — e.g., Leadingtac's proprietary Nano-SPUD® protein degradation platform, VelaVigo's antibody/ADC discovery engine, and AusperBio's RNA-targeting approach to chronic Hepatitis B. The firm's public commentary emphasizes technological barriers/moats, execution strength, and global clinical relevance over pure commercial traction.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Mainland China (Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Suzhou, Shenzhen clusters), with a global outlook — several portfolio companies have executed international out-licensing agreements (VelaVigo to Ollin Biosciences and other US partners) and cross-border financing syndicates including US-based funds (OrbiMed, RA Capital, Carlyle, Warburg Pincus, Sherpa Capital).
Notes on Sourcing
Hankang Capital's own corporate website (jianxincapital.com, the domain associated with its former name Shanghai Jianxin Capital) returned no crawlable content via automated tools during this research session — DNS resolves but the server gives an empty HTTP response (confirmed via Jina, curl, and a Playwright anti-bot fallback that timed out). All findings above are sourced from third-party press releases, portfolio company announcements, and institutional data profiles (SWFInstitute, PrivateEquityInternational, PitchBook, Preqin, Tracxn, LinkedIn, company press pages). A follow-up direct site crawl is recommended once the site is back online.