Vivo Capital, a US-China healthcare investment firm, closed a new private equity fund at an oversubscribed $635 million (see story). The Vivo Opportunity Fund will invest in US and China small to mid-cap public life sciences companies with novel products in development. Vivo raised $750 million for its previous PE fund in 2015, and it closed a $100 million venture capital fund in 2016. The firm, which has offices in Palo Alto, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei, now has $2.2 billion in total funds under management.

Xynomic Pharmaceuticals, a US-China clinical-stage oncology company, will be merged into Bison Capital Acquisition (Nasdaq: BCAC) in a reverse merger that values Xynomic at $450 million (see story). Initially, Xynomic shareholders will receive $350 million in Bison shares, with another $100 million available if the company meets specified milestones. The company said a NASDAQ listing will improve its access to capital. In its two-year history, Xynomic has in-licensed two novel oral small-molecule cancer treatment candidates. Bison, a special purpose vehicle, will change its name to Xynomic Pharmaceuticals Holding. 

Hua Medicine (HK: 2552) of Beijing raised $110 million in a Hong Kong IPO at a valuation of $1.1 billion, the second pre-revenue China biopharma to list on the exchange (see story). The offering was expected to bring in $200 million, but market sentiment has become cautious. The IPO priced at the low end of the range, initially moved lower in its first trading session, and then climbed back to the offering price by the close. Hua will complete clinical trials of its lead drug candidate, dorzagliatin, a GKA activator for type 2 diabetes, in 2019. 

111, Inc. (Nasdaq: YI), a new retail online/online pharmacy, has completed a US IPO on the NASDAQ exchange, raising $100 million at a $1.1 billion market capitalization (see story). Initially, 111 was seeking to raise as much as $150 million, but market considerations led the underwriters to lower the size of the offering. Founded in 2010, 111 includes 1 Drugstore, an online pharmacy that it claims is China’s largest; 1 Clinic, which provides online consultations; and 1 Drug Mall, a B2B cloud-computing/big data/supply chain for pharmacies to manage inventory.