Caidya secures $165M investment for growth
Caidya, a clinical research organization (CRO) based in Raleigh, has raised $165 million in private equity to support its growth.
The investment came from funds managed by Rubicon Founders, a Nashville-based healthcare investment firm. Rubicon joins Caidya’s existing backers, including global venture capital, private equity and healthcare investors.
The funds will enable Caidya’s continued organic expansion along with exploration of strategic acquisitions, the company said in announcing the investment.
“We are delighted to welcome Rubicon Founders as a significant investor and long-term partner to Caidya,” said Lingshi Tan, Ph.D., Caidya’s executive board chairman. This substantial investor support comes at a unique inflection point to propel Caidya to the next level.”
David M. Glaccum, partner at Rubicon Founders, will join Caidya’s board of directors.
“We look forward to partnering with Caidya’s management team and existing investors to support the company’s continued growth plans as a leading global CRO,” Glaccum said. “As both investors and operators in the global healthcare and pharmaceutical services industries, we are excited to bring our expertise to support Caidya’s mission to advance the future of healthcare by providing patients around the world with access to novel therapies.”
With full-service capabilities and a presence in 23 countries and regions, Caidya is a global, mid-sized (CRO) that helps biopharmaceutical companies bring potential therapies to patients.
From clinical trials to post-approval surveillance
The company provides its customers with access to diverse and global patient populations, specialist clinical research services, and expertise in oncology, hematology, rare and pediatric diseases, and other therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical need. Caidya offers comprehensive clinical trial services covering regulatory strategy and submissions, medical affairs, clinical operations, data management, biometrics, pharmacovigilance, quality management and post-approval surveillance.
“We are extremely excited to get Rubicon Founders’ support as Caidya embarks on our next phase of growth and transformation,” said Barbara Lopez Kunz, Caidya’s chief executive officer. “Rubicon Founders will bring tremendous expertise and resources to accelerate our global growth, in full alignment with our aspiration to be the leading mid-sized CRO serving biopharma innovation across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.”
Caidya was formed in 2021 by the merger of dMed, a full-service CRO based in Shanghai, and Morrisville-based CRO Clinipace. The company was re-branded as Caidya the following year.
The merger positioned Caidya “to better serve the global needs of both Western and Chinese companies,” Tan said at the time of the deal.
Tan founded dMed in 2016 and grew the company to about 700 employees in 31 Chinese cities and three U.S. offices before the merger. Clinipace, founded in 2003 as a software company, grew to about 900 employees before the merger, mainly through several acquisitions.
Today Caidya has nearly 1,800 employees worldwide.
Biotechs raising more than $100M
Caidya joins several other N.C. biotech companies to have raised more than $100 million in the past year. Tune Therapeutics recently announced it raised $175 million in a Series B round to support its first clinical trial. In August, Pathalys Pharma in RTP raised $105 million in Series B funding to develop its kidney disease treatments. Last February, Areteria Therapeutics, the Chapel Hill asthma treatment firm, raised an additional $75 million to its previous $350 million Series A round.
North Carolina is one of only three states, along with California and Massachusetts, to have seen multiple $100 million biotech financing rounds in the past 12 months, according to Mike Carnes, vice president of emerging company development at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.