Shanghai Leadingtac Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Leadingtac) , a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing targeted protein degradation science, recently announced the successful completion of a series A financing round, raising over 100 million yuan ($14 million). The investment was led by Beijing Lapam Venture Capital, with participation from Tianrui Fengnian and existing backer Zhangjiang Hi-Tech.

The funds will support the clinical development of Leadingtac’s IRAK4 degrader, LT-002, along with advancing other autoimmune and oncology pipelines and expanding its research facilities and teams.

Founded in 2019, Leadingtac is a leader in protein degradation , dedicated to develop First in class/Best in class small molecule highly innovative medicines. The company focuses on autoimmune and oncology disease areas under the assistance of in-house  Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) drug discovery platform and proved ability to address previously inaccessible disease-causing proteins. We are dedicated to deliver new medication with better efficacy, safety, compliance and cost-effectiveness to address genuine unmet clinical needs.

Leadingtac marked the first participant dosed with IRAK4 degrader, LT-002 in June 2024, and to date, has successfully completed 65 healthy volunteers with single or multiple dosing observations within 4 months. The completed blinded data shows that LT-002 has good safety and tolerability in healthy volunteers, favorable high accumulation in target tissues and excellent degradation of IRAK4 protein in hPBMC and skin in a dose-dependent manner. It also demonstrated markable inhibition on the release of several pro-inflammatory cytokines.

To sum up, LT-002 has demonstrated good safety and tolerability in humans, favorable pharmacokinetic profile and degradation activity, and thus the potential in the clinical development for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, especially dermatology-related diseases.

LT-002's research progress is competing with KT-474, the world's first IRAK4 degrader developed by Sanofi/Kymera. The results of KT-474's clinical Phase I trial have been published in Journal Nature Medicine, and it is advanced to Phase II clinical trial. Preliminary data show that KT-474 exhibits good anti-inflammatory efficacy in humans and shows great therapeutic potential for inflammatory disease. On July 8, 2024, Sanofi confirmed to expand the ongoing Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) and Atopic Dermatitis (AD) Phase 2 trials to more rapidly progress towards pivotal studies based on the achieved preliminary safety and efficacy data. 

Dr. Yan Feng, Founder and CEO of Leadingtac, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Beijing LAPAM Capital, Tianrui Fengnian, and Zhangke Lingyi Venture Capital as we progress toward becoming a clinical stage company. We are very grateful to Beijing LAPAM Capital, Tianrui Fengnian, and Zhangjiang Leading Venture Capital for their tremendous  support of Leadingtac's R&D projects and their trust in our research team, and we are also very grateful to all Leadingtac staff members for their unremitting efforts and contributions. We will continue to enhance the TPD platform to access a wide range of difficult-to-drug targets proteins, accelerate the preclinical research and clinical development of current pipelines, and to deliver transformational medicine to patients in need. 

Mr Zhihua Yu, the founder of Lapam Capital, commented, “PROTACs are revolutionizing small molecule drug development. Leadingtac is well aligned with our investment philosophy. They are building up robust R&D technology platform and backed by a seasoned team who demonstrate rapid execution in vision and opportunity. The first pipeline, IRAK4 degrader, has entered the clinical stage. 

We are glad that the first pipeline LT-002 has demonstrated the great potential in the clinical setting and are confident on the huge application space of IRAK4 degraders in multiple autoimmune diseases as well as other autoimmune and oncology pipelines. We are very glad to lead this round of financing, and I look forward to working with the leatdingtac team as they advance protein degraders to clinical proof of activity in patients with immune-inflammatory diseases.”

Tianrui Fengnian Parner Ms. Chunling Zhou, said, “Congratulations to Leadingtac on the completion of this round of financing. PROTAC drugs, due to their unique mechanism of action, can target many previously undruggable proteins, and therefore many big MNCs and Biotechs have been active in the research and development of PROTAC drugs in the past few years. Leadingtac is a PROTAC leader in in China, and has made notable progress in advancing pipelines. I believe Leadingtac will have a great future!”

Mr. Yu Xiaoyong, Founder of Zhangjiang Leading Venture Capital, said, “As a local VC in Shanghai Zhangjiang, we are very pleased to  witness the growth of Leadingtac. In just a few years, Leadingtac's team has independently established a new PROTAC drug discovery platform and successfully advanced a FIC/BIC product to the clinical stage. We are very confident in Leadingtac's capacity to deliver better competitive pipelines,  which is the reason why Zhangjiang Leading Ventures continues the investments to this round after the first two rounds of investment. We believe that after this round of financing, Leadingtac will continue to deliver meaningful advances in clinical development, advancing targeted protein degradation research and team reinforcement.”

About Us:

Leadingtac is a leader of PROTAC in drug discovery and development in China. Since its founding in late 2019, Leadingtac has established R&D centers in Zhangjiang, Pudong, Shanghai and Keqiao, Shaoxing, Zhejiang. The company focuses on Target Protein Degradation, and has independently developed SPUD® (Specific Protein Ubiquitination and Degradation), which is capable of delivering high throughput of screening proteasomal degraders, new E3 ligands, and lysosomal degraders. Ubiquitination and Degradation technology platform includes:

Nano-SPUD® for Target Proteins

Nano-SPUD® for E3 Ligases

Lyso-SPUD® for Lysosome

Based on this platform, Leadingtac has independently developed its first pipeline of IRAK4 degraders, LT-002, for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, which has a huge market potential and has been approved by the CDE and FDA to enter clinical trials in China and the United States, and is the first in China and the second in the world in terms of research and development progress.

Leadingtac's other ongoing pipelines include the JAK-STAT pathway, KRAS and other undruggable targets for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, as well as solid tumors such as lung, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers, all of which are leading the world in terms of R&D progress.

About Lapam Capital:

Headquartered in Beijing, Lapam Capital is a leading biopharmaceutical venture capital firm in China. With RMB 10 billion under management, Lapam has 5 RMB funds and 1 USD fund under management, with a total size of more than RMB 10 billion. Lapam is by far the only biopharmaceutical investor that has been backed by two of China's top RMB LP funders, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (NSMEDF). Their emphasis is on biotechnology companies that are discovering and developing novel therapeutics or innovative medical devices, with a focus on start-ups and early to mid-stage investments. 

Lapam has built a team with deep investment, operating and R&D expertise that enables a hands-on approach to company building. Since the firm’s founding in 2010, Lapam has a portfolio of 100 innovative medicine companies and 20 innovative medical device companies including Betta Pharmaceuticals (SZ.300558), RemeGen Pharmaceuticals (SH.688331), Gyre Therapeutics (GYRE), ImmuneOnco Biopharmaceuticals (HK.01541), Beijing Biostar (HK.02563), Beijing Kawin Technology (SH.688687), Asieris Pharmaceuticals (SH.688177) and Kaintech (SH.688187). SH.688176), Eyebright Medical Technology (SH.688050), Binhui Biopharmaceutical, WeHand and many other star projects. With more than 20 years of experience in R&D and management in the international and domestic biopharmaceutical industry, Lapam's management team is empowered to provide comprehensive value-added services to investee companies.

About Tianrui Fengnian:

Hunan Tianrui Fengnian Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd. founded in March 2014, is the governing unit of Hunan Provincial Equity Investment Association and it is also one of the first private equity institutions in Hunan Province registered by the China Securities and Fund Industry Association (No. P1004598). It was rated as “2020 Hunan's Top Ten Most Influential Private Equity Institutions “. As of December 2023, there are 28 funds under management. Tianrui Fengnian focuses on equity investment in the fields of biomedicine and new materials, and is committed to discovering “high profile entrepreneurs”, “high moat” and “high growth” in the industry, We are committed to exploring investment opportunities in high-quality enterprises with “high entrepreneurial style”, “high moat”, “high growth” and “good valuation” in the industry, so as to maximize the value of investors! The Fund's portfolio include Xinhua (603867), Jiayuan Technology (688388), Winsun Bio (839729), Chengda Biotechnology (688739), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (688469), and other outstanding companies listed on the Main Board and the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

About Zhangjiang Leading Venture:

As a local venture capital firm in Zhangjiang, Zhangjiang Leading Venture mainly invests in early and mid-stage projects in biopharmaceuticals and innovative medical devices in Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, and has invested in projects such as ImmuneOnco Biopharmaceuticals (HK.01541), Shanghai NewMed Medical, EnnovaBio, Zolwise Meical, Novamab Biopharmaceuticals, Linno Pharmaceuticals, Leadingtac, and Xuanren Technology, etc. The management team of Zhangjiang Leading Venture is deeply rooted in Zhangjiang, nourished with abundant industry and information resources.  By pooling together various development factors such as capital, talent, development space, enterprise ccollaboration and policy information required for the growth of enterprises, Zhangjiang Leading Venture accelerates the rapid growth of startups together with entrepreneurs.