GluBio Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on developing novel targeted protein degradation (TPD) drugs, recently announced the completion of Series A+ financing of $22 million. This round is led by Qiming Venture Partners and joined by Lilly Asia Ventures and Kaitai Capital, bringing the total capital raised to nearly $90 million since its establishment in March, 2021.
The investment will help advance two molecular glue degraders with best-in-class potential into the clinic for hematological malignancies, accelerate the lead optimization entry of three first-in-class TPD drugs for solid tumors and inflammatory diseases, and further upgrade GluBio's proprietary TPD discovery platform and screening capabilities tailored for rapid discovery and optimization of small molecule protein degraders for 'undruggable' therapeutic targets.
"We are thrilled to advance molecular-glue and heterobifunctional protein degraders, which hold a great promise of eliminating disease-causing proteins that are not amenable to traditional therapeutic approaches. In the past 16 months, GluBio made tremendous progress in developing best-in-class and/or first-in-class TPD assets and state-of-the-art TPD platform, fully maximizing the therapeutic and commercial potential of TPD technologies. We completed this round within two months of Series A financing. We are grateful for the unwavering confidence investors have in our assets and platform, and confident that this round will accelerate a smooth and successful execution of our pipeline and platform."
Gang Lu, Ph.D., GluBio Founder and CEO
Dr. Kan Chen, Partner of Qiming Venture Parners, said, "Targeted protein degradation is a revolutionary technology in the biopharmaceutical field. GluBio team has extensive experience in targeted protein degradation and has built a strong platform for molecular glue and new target discovery technologies, making it a promising leader in TPD field. Qiming Venture Partners is pleased to continue our support to the company's development and hopes that GluBio will accelerate its R&D and industrialization process to bring more unmet need targets to the clinical stage and new treatment options to patients worldwide."
About GluBio Therapeutics, Inc
GluBio Therapeutics is a pioneering TPD company dedicated to developing targeted protein degraders for human diseases with unmet medical needs. Founded by seasoned drug developers with deep knowledge and expertise in TPD drug discovery, the company has established a proprietary TPD discovery platform and robust screening capability. GluBio is advancing a diverse pipeline of highly selective small-molecule degraders across multiple therapeutic areas including oncology and immunology. The company has research operations in both San Diego, CA, USA and Shanghai, China.
About Qiming Venture Partners
Founded in 2006, Qiming Venture Partners is a leading China venture capital firm with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hong Kong, Seattle, Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Currently, Qiming Venture Partners manages eleven US Dollar funds and seven RMB funds with $9.4 billion in capital raised. Since our establishment, we have invested in outstanding companies in the Technology and Consumer (T&C) and Healthcare industries at the early and growth stages.
About Lilly Asia Ventures
Founded in 2008, Lilly Asia Ventures is a leading biomedical venture capital firm with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Palo Alto. Our vision is to become the trusted partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital and to build great companies developing breakthrough products that treat diseases and improve human health.
About Kaitai Capital
Founded in 2009, Kaitai Capital is an investment management organization that mainly engages in venture capital, private equity, and wealth management businesses. Fields of investment include biotechnology, healthcare services, digital technology, agriculture technology and etc. Currently, the asset under management of Kaitai Capital has reached 50 billion RMB.