Degron Therapeutics Completes Over $20 Million Series A+ Financing to Advance Clinical Development of Novel Molecular Glue Degraders

VCBeat has learned that Degron Therapeutics (“Degron”), a biotechnology company focused on developing molecular glue therapeutics targeting undruggable targets, announced today that it successfully closed its Series A+ financing round of over $20 million in late 2024.This funding round was led by prominent investors including the Zhejiang Province “4+1” Biopharmaceutical and High-End Medical Device Industry Fund, Takeda Ventures, Fung & Chuen Capital, Longmen Capital, Haoyue China Healthcare Fund, and the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund, with existing shareholder Yuansheng Venture Capital continuing its support.HAOYUE CAPITAL served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing and will assist the company in completing the fundraising for the additional tranche of this round.

This round of financing will support Degron Therapeutics’ strategic expansion in the field of novel molecular glues, including advancing the clinical development of its core pipeline candidate, a HuR-targeting molecular glue. HuR is an RNA-binding protein previously considered undruggable, which plays a critical role in cancer and inflammation. The company plans to initiate patient enrollment for clinical trials in 2025. Since successfully completing its Series A financing in 2022, Degron Therapeutics has significantly expanded its GlueXplorer^®Molecular Glue Drug Discovery Platform. The platform currently encompasses over 10,000 molecular glue compounds with unique structures and has accumulated extensive proprietary data on biological activity validation. This compound library, combined with the company’s proprietary multi-tiered screening strategies and validation systems, provides robust support for the discovery of new targets and the optimization of molecular glues.

In addition to its HuR molecular glue pipeline, the company is advancing multiple molecular glue programs aimed at disease targets that are traditionally considered undruggable or inadequately controlled by existing therapies, yet hold significant development value. Among these is a first-in-class WEE1 molecular glue, which operates via a mechanism distinct from that of conventional WEE1 inhibitors and is expected to have its preclinical candidate (PCC) confirmed in 2025. Meanwhile, Degron Therapeutics is actively exploring the potential of molecular glides as novel payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) through various strategic collaborations.

Degron Therapeutics entered into a multi-target collaborative R&D and exclusive licensing agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical in May 2024, leveraging its GlueXplorer^®platform, developing innovative molecular glue degraders targeting multiple targets in the fields of oncology, neuroscience, and inflammation. In this round of financing, Takeda Ventures also made an equity investment in Degron Therapeutics.

Dr. Li Hui Zou, Co-Founder and CEO of Degron TherapeuticsStatement: We are delighted to welcome this distinguished group of investors, who share Degron Therapeutics’ vision of developing innovative drugs that transform disease treatment through our pioneering molecular glue drug discovery platform. The successful completion of this financing round has laid a solid foundation for our entry into the clinical stage in 2025 and further validates the feasibility of our novel molecular glue strategy. As our first-in-class HuR molecular glue pipeline advances into clinical development and our novel WEE1 molecular glue pipeline approaches Preclinical Candidate (PCC) confirmation, we remain committed to our mission of delivering breakthrough therapies to improve patient health.

Dr. Kang Zisheng, Director at HAOYUE CAPITALStatement: We are honored to have assisted Degron Therapeutics in completing this round of financing. As a highly promising modality, molecular glues have garnered widespread attention within the industry. Developing molecular glues targeting novel innovative targets to address unmet clinical needs has become a key future direction, with Degron’s GlueXplorer^®Degron Therapeutics’ molecular glue drug development platform is continuously generating a robust pipeline targeting novel therapeutic targets. We are honored to accompany Degron Therapeutics in its rapid growth and look forward to the future development of more innovative molecular glue therapies that will benefit a broad patient population.

Degron Therapeutics is a leading biotechnology company dedicated to developing novel therapeutics through its proprietary molecular glue-based targeted protein degradation drug discovery platform, with the aim of advancing human health. The company’s unique GlueXplorer^®The platform has established a rapidly expandable, IP-protected compound library and screening system for the development of novel small-molecule drugs targeting previously undruggable targets. The company’s R&D pipeline is expanding rapidly, encompassing multiple clinical and preclinical compounds, with key focus areas including oncology, inflammation, neuroscience, and metabolic diseases.