Why Pfizer’s Venture Arm Is Backing a Stealthy Shanghai Biotech With US$100M to Rethink R&D

OTR Therapeutics’ Series A raise, led by True Light Capital, LAV, Pfizer Ventures and Sirona Capital, highlights how global pharma and Asian investors are converging around capital-efficient R&D hubs in China.

OTR Therapeutics, a Shanghai-based biotech focused on turning early scientific discoveries into globally relevant therapies, has revealed that it raised US$100 million in Series A funding in a round that actually closed back in June 2025. The company is only now emerging from stealth, making the deal one of the most notable early-stage financings for a Chinese biotech this year. 

The round was backed by True Light Capital (a wholly owned Temasek subsidiary), LAV, Pfizer Ventures, and Sirona Capital. Their participation signals strong confidence in OTR’s approach: a capital-efficient R&D engine that blends internal drug discovery with carefully curated external assets, including an expanding set of preclinical neurological programs. 

From Stealth to Strategy: What OTR Is Actually Building

Founded in March 2025, OTR has kept its pipeline largely under wraps, disclosing only that it is working on “differentiated programs” aimed at major treatment gaps in immunology and inflammation, oncology, cardiometabolic diseases, and other areas. Rather than trying to build everything in-house, OTR’s model is to: 

• Discover internally or acquire externally high-potential assets at preclinical or early clinical stages;
• Push them through a centralized R&D hub designed for speed, quality, and efficiency;
• Advance the most promising candidates into global clinical development.

This is exactly the sort of capital-disciplined approach investors have been asking for as biotech funding cycles become more selective.

Zhangjiang: Building in the Middle of a Biotech Super-Cluster

The Series A proceeds will primarily be used to expand OTR’s R&D hub in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park—a district often described as China’s “biopharma valley,” home to hundreds of R&D centers and multinational pharma operations. 

From there, OTR plans to run an integrated R&D engine that combines: in-house scientific teams with a network of global collaborators across the U.S., Europe and Asia, and infrastructure support through its residency at Bayer Co.Lab Shanghai, a life science incubator that recently added OTR as a tenant.

The incubator connection gives OTR access to advanced labs, global pharma networks, and potential co-development pathways—important advantages for a young company attempting global clinical ambitions from day one.

Adding Neurology to the Mix

Alongside the funding news, OTR disclosed that it has acquired a preclinical neurological program described as having “best-in-class potential” for diseases with high unmet need. Details remain undisclosed, but strategically this matters for two reasons: 

1. It signals that OTR is not only focused on its initial core areas (immunology, oncology, cardiometabolic) but is already broadening into neurology, a field where large pharma companies are actively hunting for innovation.
2. It shows how OTR intends to layer external assets onto its R&D platform, giving investors multiple shots on goal rather than depending on a single flagship candidate.

The company plans to advance this neurological program in parallel with its internal discovery projects, using its hub model to progress several assets toward global trials at the same time.

A Capital-Efficient Answer to a Changing Biopharma Landscape

Founder and CEO Zhui Chen, Ph.D.—who previously co-founded Abbisko Therapeutics, later selling tumor drug pimicotinib to Merck KGaA—frames OTR as a response to the new realities of drug R&D.

The global pharma environment is shifting in ways that favour OTR’s model:

• Rising R&D costs and longer timelines are forcing companies to be more selective and capital-efficient.
• Big pharma wants de-risked assets sourced from nimble, specialist biotechs.
• China’s innovation ecosystem now offers high-quality science at competitive cost, especially in hubs like Zhangjiang.

OTR’s answer is a “next-generation biotech” that combines rigorous science, lean operations, and a portfolio approach to early-stage assets.

Why These Investors Leaned In

OTR’s founding team—Chen, Shannon Chuai, Ph.D., and Yuan Shi, Ph.D.—brings a mix of scientific, clinical, and operational experience that investors describe as critical to the deal. LAV’s managing director Yi Shi said the biopharma industry is moving toward more specialised, capital-efficient R&D models, and that OTR is “at the forefront of this evolution” by integrating in-house and sourced innovation under one framework. 

For Pfizer Ventures, which focuses on companies aligned with Pfizer’s core therapeutic areas, OTR fits neatly into its strategy. Partner Michael Baran, Ph.D. called OTR an emerging company with the potential to “shape the future of our industry,” highlighting both the novelty of its model and the breadth of its pipeline across multiple high-need indications.

Temasek-owned True Light Capital brings another layer: deep knowledge of China-linked growth stories and a mandate to back high-quality, innovation-driven businesses in Greater China. In OTR, it sees a platform that can originate in Shanghai but aim for global markets.

What This Signals for China’s Biotech and Global VC

This Series A round lands at an interesting time for Chinese biotech. After years of exuberant funding followed by a more cautious phase, investors are now leaning toward:

• platform-like companies that can generate multiple assets;
• globally minded teams that design programs for U.S. and EU standards from day one;
• and R&D hubs that can deliver both cost efficiency and scientific quality.

OTR’s raise ticks all three boxes. It also shows that global pharma VCs like Pfizer Ventures are still willing to commit significant capital to China-based biotechs, provided the model is focused, scalable, and outward-looking.

Conclusion: A Stealth Player Steps Onto the Global Stage

OTR’s US$100 million Series A is more than just a large early-stage cheque—it’s a signal about where biotech R&D may be heading.

By combining:

• a capital-efficient hub in one of the world’s most important biotech clusters,
• a portfolio of differentiated early-stage programs, including neurology,
• and backing from both global pharma (Pfizer) and regional heavyweights (Temasek’s True Light, LAV, Sirona),

OTR is positioning itself as a bridge between early scientific innovation and global late-stage development.

For founders, the company’s trajectory reinforces a key lesson: in today’s market, investors are not only funding molecules—they’re backing R&D models that can repeatedly turn early ideas into high-value assets. For investors and strategics, OTR will be a company to watch as it tries to prove that its hybrid, hub-and-spoke approach can deliver real clinical outcomes, not just a well-packaged thesis.

Quick Takeaways

• US$100M Series A: One of the largest early-stage raises for a Chinese biotech in 2025.
• Investor mix: True Light Capital (Temasek), LAV, Pfizer Ventures, Sirona Capital.
• Hybrid model: Combines internal R&D with curated external assets, focused on oncology, immunology, cardiometabolic diseases, and neurology.
• R&D hub: Based in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park and embedded in Bayer Co.Lab’s incubator network.
• Strategic signal: Shows continued global VC and pharma appetite for capital-efficient, China-based biotechs with global ambitions.