Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals Highlights Founding Scientist Dr. Jun O. Liu’s Election to National Academy of Inventors in IPO Filing
On December 11, 2025, Reforxin Biopharma, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing next-generation molecular glue therapeutics, announced that its founder, Professor Jun Liu from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, had been elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). This prestigious honor recognizes Professor Liu’s pioneering contributions to the field of molecular glues and his profound impact on scientific innovation, translational medicine, and human health.
Election as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a prestigious honor designed to recognize academic inventors who have made significant impacts on society, the economy, and health in the real world; it is also the highest distinction bestowed by the NAI upon academics. This honor places recipients among the leading innovators and patent holders at top universities, acknowledging leaders who consistently translate laboratory discoveries into technologies that improve lives. The selection process for NAI Fellows is highly rigorous, emphasizing outstanding contributions, robust patent portfolios, and the substantial impact of transforming research breakthroughs into widely applied technologies.
Professor Liu Jun has earned international acclaim for his groundbreaking contributions to natural product chemistry, the discovery of drug mechanisms of action, and the molecular basis of molecular glues. In 1991, Professor Liu and his collaborators published their findings in Cell, unveiling for the first time the unprecedented mechanism of action of the immunosuppressive drugs FK506 and cyclosporine A. They demonstrated that these drugs exert their therapeutic effects by “gluing” together the chaperone proteins FKBP12 and cyclophilin A. Drugs operating through this novel mechanism were termed “molecular glues,” thereby pioneering the field of molecular glues.
“I am deeply honored to be elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI),” said Professor Liu Jun. “This recognition reflects the collective efforts of many talented colleagues, students, and collaborators over the years. I am delighted to see our fundamental discoveries continually evolving into new paradigms for drug design and disease treatment, with the promise of benefiting patients.”
Based on the patented technology for which Professor Liu Jun received this honor, Ruifuxin Pharmaceutical Technology has developed the RapaGlues™ platform, a non-degradative macrocyclic molecular glue technology. This platform utilizes FKBP12 as a delivery protein to form drug complexes of protein-like dimensions, thereby effectively addressing various “undruggable” intracellular therapeutic targets. RapaGlues™ exhibit excellent cell permeability and superior drug-like properties, enabling the modulation of a broad range of disease targets, including protein–protein interaction interfaces, transcription factors, transmembrane proteins (such as the SLC family), and enzymes. The platform currently features an industry-leading DNA-encoded compound library comprising over 8 billion non-degradative glue molecules. Leveraging this resource, Ruifuxin has established a robust early-stage R&D pipeline encompassing potential “first-in-class” or “best-in-class” projects across multiple therapeutic areas, including inflammation and immunology (e.g., multiple targets specifically directed at the TNFαR1 pathway, STAT6, etc.), oncology (e.g., GSTP1, SLC7A11), and kidney diseases (e.g., ENT1 for acute kidney injury).
“We are thrilled to see Professor Liu honored as an academic inventor at the highest national level in the United States,” said Dr. Sean Hu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Reforson Pharmaceutical Technology.This prestigious honor is not only the highest recognition of his personal scientific achievements, but also an authoritative testament to the immense potential of the non-degradable molecular glue platform technology underpinning Ruifuxin.“His pioneering work in the field of molecular glues has laid the foundation for the entire scientific community, and his inventions continue to drive the development of a new generation of non-degradative molecular glue therapies. This reflects both the depth of Professor Liu’s scientific vision and underscores the solid foundation and significant impact he has established for Reforsin’s platform technology.”
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a membership organization dedicated to recognizing and promoting academic inventions that benefit society. Its members comprise top academic innovators from more than 100 institutions worldwide. Election as an NAI Fellow represents the pinnacle of achievement for academic inventors, honoring individuals who have made a positive impact on the world through patented innovations and by leading the translation of these innovations into products.
Refoxin Pharmaceuticals originated from the laboratory of Dr. Jun Liu, Professor of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Its mission is to develop transformative drugs to address high unmet medical needs. The platform leverages highly selective, non-degradative macrocyclic molecular glues to modulate intracellular therapeutic targets that are considered “undruggable.” Refoxin has constructed DNA-encoded libraries and arrayed compound libraries of RapaGlues™, which can inhibit the native activity of target proteins by inducing novel protein–protein interactions. These compounds are rationally designed and engineered to bind FKBP and form ternary complexes with disease-associated target proteins. They exhibit favorable cell permeability, offering a promising approach for modulating targets such as transmembrane proteins, protein–protein interactions, transcription factors, and enzymes. RapaGlues™ have been demonstrated to provide innovative chemical starting points for challenging drug targets, and early-stage candidate pipelines have been developed in oncology, inflammation and immunology, and renal diseases, including multiple potential first-in-class programs. Their modular architecture supports structure–activity relationship studies and further optimization of potency, selectivity, and physicochemical properties, thereby accelerating the drug discovery and development process.