Yituo Pharmaceuticals Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million Series A Funding to Advance First-in-Class Oncology Drugs Targeting 'Undruggable' Targets

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Shanghai Yituo Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yituo Pharma”) recently announced the completion of its Series A financing round, raising nearly RMB 100 million. The proceeds will be used to advance the preclinical development and early-stage clinical trials of its innovative drug pipeline.

It is reported that this round of financing was co-led by new investors Xingze Capital and Taifu Capital, with existing investor Bohe Angel Fund making additional investments. Previously, Yituo Medicine completed its tens-of-millions-yuan angel round at the end of 2018, led by Bohe Angel Fund and participated by Nuokai Xinkang Fund.

Yituo Pharma is an innovative small-molecule drug development company focused on “undruggable” oncology targets. Leveraging structural biology and molecular biological mechanisms, the company employs diverse personalized targeting strategies to precisely engage “undruggable” drug targets, providing novel solutions for cancer therapy.

Yituo Pharma was established at the end of 2018. In less than two years, it has successively completed two rounds of financing, each amounting to tens of millions of yuan, with total funds raised exceeding 100 million yuan. When asked what advantages had attracted investor interest, the founder of Yituo Pharma attributed this to the team’s craftsmanship spirit and the innovative strategy of its projects.

Yituo Pharma was co-founded by professors from renowned research institutes and senior drug development professionals. The founders possess extensive overseas work experience, having served for many years at world-leading pharmaceutical companies, where they successfully commercialized R&D outcomes. The remaining core members of Yituo Pharma hail from multinational pharmaceutical corporations such as Novartis, AbbVie, Sanofi, and AstraZeneca, forming a young team with an average of over 10 years of experience in drug research and development. Having collaborated for many years, the team boasts extensive expertise in the development of first-in-class small-molecule drugs.

“Undruggable” targets refer to proteins that are difficult to target with small molecules. Although these targets play critical roles in disease onset and progression, effective small-molecule drugs have yet to be developed due to factors such as protein structure or regulatory mechanisms. Through systematic research into the structure and function of “undruggable” target proteins, the Yituo team has proposed “personalized” targeting strategies for these targets, such as the development of allosteric inhibitors, inhibition of protein–protein interactions to block protein function, and promotion of protein degradation. To implement these personalized approaches, the team has established technical platforms in structural biology, computer-aided drug design (CADD), DNA-encoded compound libraries, and molecular fragment-based drug screening through both external collaborations and internal capacity building. By leveraging this integrated suite of technologies, Yituo has formed an efficient model for the discovery and optimization of drugs against novel targets. The comprehensive application of these technologies is playing an increasingly significant role in Yituo’s product pipeline.

Meanwhile, the Yituo team places great emphasis on bridging translational medicine with clinical practice, believing that even projects facing international competition can achieve differentiation during translation and clinical development. Grounded in a biological understanding of innovative targets, the team emphasizes the clinical positioning of products from the outset of project establishment and R&D, actively exploring drug biomarkers, rational combination therapy strategies, and the expansion of clinical indications. Innovation permeates every stage of drug development, and the team imbues each project with its own unique innovative significance.

Yituo Pharma currently has two pipelines in the preclinical research stage, two in the lead compound optimization stage, and several others in the target validation and hit confirmation stages. These inhibitors hold promise as future blockbuster broad-spectrum anticancer drugs, carrying significant clinical implications.

Regarding the investment in Yituo Medical,Ms. Liu Yuwen, Founding Partner of the Bohe Angel FundStatement: The Yituo team demonstrates excellent capabilities in original innovation and efficient translational development. Less than a year after completing its angel financing round, the company has established a robust product pipeline, with two projects advancing into preclinical development and multiple subsequent projects achieving breakthrough progress at an internationally leading level. We believe that the participation of professional institutional investors will accelerate the company’s growth, enabling it to provide patients with better and more diverse treatment options sooner.

Dr. Chen Haigang, Managing Partner of Xingze CapitalStatement: The Yituo team possesses a solid foundation in biological research and has extensive experience in successfully translating scientific achievements into commercial applications. We are highly optimistic about the company’s capability to develop “first-in-class” products. Several of its product candidates are at the forefront globally, and we hope that this round of investment will facilitate the accelerated progression of these products toward clinical trial applications across all aspects.

Dr. Li Ming, Managing Partner at Taifu CapitalYituo Pharma’s founding team has extensive expertise in developing small-molecule targeted oncology drugs against historically challenging targets, and has efficiently built a globally competitive product pipeline within a short timeframe. Taifu Capital is honored to participate in this journey and support the company’s growth, with the shared goal of accelerating the development of novel anti-cancer therapies that benefit society.

BOHE Angel Fund, established in 2015, is China’s first angel investment fund dedicated to early-stage innovative R&D enterprises in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. It is committed to becoming China’s premier platform for identifying, nurturing, and incubating technology transfer projects in early-stage biotechnology.

Xingze Capital was established in 2015, focusing on investing in outstanding early-stage and growth-stage enterprises in the healthcare industry. Its investment portfolio covers areas such as biopharmaceuticals, life sciences, medical devices, healthcare services, and diagnostics. The investment team consists of more than 20 professionals and advisors with extensive experience in healthcare investments from around the world, whose professional backgrounds include life sciences, medicine, finance, and law. The fund’s investors include top-tier professional investment institutions and listed companies, as well as renowned families and individuals who are committed to providing strong support for entrepreneurs to jointly build world-class pharmaceutical companies.

Taifu Capital was established in 2014, focusing on the fields of new drug development and novel medical technology research. It primarily invests in promising early-stage and growth-stage enterprises. The investment team possesses years of experience and industry resources in these areas and is committed to helping portfolio companies grow into industry leaders.