Degron Therapeutics Completes $40 Million Series A Extension Financing to Advance Clinical Development of Molecular Glue Degraders

VCBeat learned that Degron Therapeutics (referred to as "Degron"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing molecular glue degrader drugs, announced today the completion of a $40 million Series A extension financing. This round was led by Longpan Capital, with participation from GTJA Investment Group, Fortune Capital, CSPC Guofang Pioneer Fund, ApicHope, GF Xinde Investment, KingHall Ventures, and Hongye Fund, among other institutions. HaoYue Capital continued to serve as the exclusive financial advisor for this round. Following the completion of this financing round, Degron Therapeutics' total funding reached $95 million.

This round of financing will be used to advance the clinical development of Degron Therapeutics' core pipeline, DEG6498. This pipeline is a First-in-Class HuR (Human antigen R) molecular glue degrader, targeting the previously considered undruggable RNA-binding protein HuR. HuR plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of cancer, inflammation, and metabolic diseases. The pipeline is expected to enter the clinical stage in 2025 and complete the first patient dosing in November of the same year. Currently, DEG6498 is undergoing a Phase I clinical dose-escalation study in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Degron Therapeutics was founded in 2021 by Professor Cang Yong, a co-founder of the company and a professor at ShanghaiTech University. The company has built the molecular glue degrader drug discovery platform GlueXplorer® from scratch. Currently, Degron Therapeutics has established a library of over 10,000 molecular glue degrader compounds with structural diversity, covering more than 150 novel non-IMiD core scaffolds, combined with multiple complementary screening and validation methods. Based on this platform, Degron Therapeutics has developed a series of R&D pipelines targeting key disease-causing proteins—targets that have long been difficult to effectively intervene in traditional small-molecule drug development.

In addition to advancing its internal pipeline, Degron Therapeutics continues to collaborate with globally leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to promote the research and development of molecular glue degraders across multiple therapeutic areas. This includes the ongoing collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company.

Dr. Lihui Zou, co-founder and CEO of Degron Therapeutics, stated: "We are very pleased to welcome this group of outstanding investors who share the same vision with Degron — transforming the treatment of serious diseases with unmet clinical needs through our innovative molecular glue degrader platform. This round of financing will support the company in advancing both clinical-stage and preclinical pipelines, while further strengthening our technological platform. The high recognition from leading healthcare investment institutions also reflects market confidence in Degron's strategy for developing novel molecular glue degraders. As the HuR project moves into the clinical advancement stage, and two additional immunology projects are about to enter the preclinical development phase, Degron is steadily progressing toward its goal of providing breakthrough therapies to improve patient health."

The proceeds from this financing will be mainly used to support the ongoing clinical development of DEG6498, advance its immunology programs to the candidate compound stage in 2026, and further expand the company's proprietary GlueXplorer® platform, so as to continuously generate molecular glue degrader drug candidates with first-in-class and best-in-disease potential.