CRO Pharmaron Holding, of Irvine, Calif. and Beijing, has closed a Series C financing round totaling more than $40 million from existing investors DCM, Legend Capital and others, along with new investor GL Capital Group.

Pharmaron will use the new capital to strengthen and expand its drug discovery services offerings, preclinical GLP toxicology capabilities and GMP chemical synthesis services.

Pharmaron said it in 2010 became the first CRO in China to provide truly integrated drug discovery and development services from discovery to IND.

"Recently, the pharmaceutical and biotech industry has undergone fundamental changes as it has responded to increased productivity demands," said Pharmaron Chairman and CEO Dr. Boliang Lou. "Building long-term partnership with CROs has become part of many pharmaceutical and biotech companies' corporate strategy."