NEWS
SAN DIEGO, Calif., and SHANGHAI, China, June 9, 2022 - Degron Therapeutics (“Degron”), a biotechnology company developing a new class of small-molecule medicines that target previously undruggable targets, today announced it has closed a $22 million Series A financing round led by Med-Fine Capital. Additional investors participating in the financing round included Dyee Capital, Baidu Venture, and NeuX Capital, along with Degron’s seed investors, CO-WIN Ventures and Yuanbio Venture Capital.
Proceeds from the Series A financing will be used to advance the company’s GlueXplorer® platform. GlueXplorer is a unique molecular glue-based targeted protein degradation platform to accelerate the development of novel drugs for previously undruggable targets in oncology, inflammation, metabolic disease, rare diseases, and other therapeutic areas. The company currently has three pipeline programs that have entered into the lead-optimization phase, including a first-in-class target with essential roles in a broad range of cancers and immune diseases.
“We are pleased to have such strong support from this syndicate of blue-chip investors who recognize the potential of our industry-leading platform to build a new type of biotechnology company,” said Lily Zou, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Degron Therapeutics. “Small-molecule drugs have been the mainstay of disease treatments, but most disease targets remain undruggable. Our GlueXplorer platform has already yielded several preclinical candidates in disease areas including cancer, inflammatory diseases, and rare diseases. Our team of accomplished entrepreneurs, scientists, and clinicians, is poised to usher in a step-change in how we treat undruggable targets to realize our goal of significantly improving patients’ lives.”
Founded in 2021, Degron Therapeutics builds on research and technologies developed in the laboratory of ShanghaiTech University professor and company co-founder Yong Cang, Ph.D. Using its proprietary GlueXplorer platform, Degron has created a unique and expanding library of molecular glue compounds that enables the targeting of previously undruggable targets. Degron’s platform uses a combination of phenotypic screening, proteomic screening, and artificial intelligence (AI) to predict novel targets and accelerate compound discovery. Beginning with a novel, patented scaffold, Degron has created more than 60 novel diverse cores and 6,000 compounds, of which almost all demonstrate binding to Cereblon (CBRN), an E3 ligase that promotes protein ubiquitination and degradation.
“Degron Therapeutics is building a platform that will unlock the future of small-molecule therapeutics. We are excited to partner with this world-class team as they pioneer the new frontier of molecular glue degraders and ultimately significantly improve how we treat diseases,” said Daniel Hu, executive director of Med-Fine Capital.
As part of the financing, Jing Yu, Ph.D., co-founder and managing director of Med-Fine Capital, joins Degron’s board of directors. Dr. Yu has scientific and clinical research experience as well as an extensive track record of successful investments across multiple segments and companies at different lifecycle stages.
About Degron Therapeutics
Degron Therapeutics is a biotechnology company advancing human health by developing novel medicines using its robust molecular glue-based targeted protein degradation drug discovery platform. The company’s unique GlueXplorer® platform has created a rapidly expanding IP-protected compound library and screening system to develop a new class of small-molecule medicines that target previously undruggable disease targets. The company’s pipeline includes a growing number of preclinical compounds for oncology, inflammation, metabolic disease, and rare diseases.
