Cullgen Receives $16 Million Series A Investment to Advance Pipeline of Targeted Protein Degraders

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cullgen Inc. (Cullgen), a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of targeted protein degraders for the treatment of diseases lacking effective therapeutic approaches, today announced it has received a $16 million Series A financing from two prominent international venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital China (Sequoia) and Highlight Capital (HC). The financing will support the development of Cullgen’s internal pipeline of targeted protein degraders in oncology and other diseases, as well as the company’s efforts to discover novel E3 ligands that may be used as part of a targeted protein degrader complex. Sequoia will also assign a board member to join the Cullgen board.

“We are delighted to have the support of Sequoia and HC”, said Dr. Ying Luo, Chairman and President of Cullgen “Since our founding in early 2018 we have made significant advancement of our targeted protein degradation platform which has directly led to the identification of several pre-clinical assets that we are rapidly advancing towards the clinic. In addition to these core scientific advancements, over the past year the company has assembled a distinguished board of scientific advisors, put in place an outstanding senior management team, and established a state-of-the-art laboratory facility that is run by more than 40 highly talented employees. We are grateful that Sequoia and HC will be part of Cullgen’s mission to develop novel targeted protein degraders for the treatment of debilitating diseases.”

About Cullgen Inc.:
Cullgen is a drug discovery company leveraging ubiquitin-mediated, small molecule-induced protein degradation technology. The company’s research programs focus on novel treatment for cancer, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases. For more information, visit www.cullgen.com.

About uSMITE™:
uSMITE™ (ubiquitin mediated small molecule induced target elimination) is Cullgen’s proprietary targeted protein degradation platform that is used to identify novel degraders that attach to a disease-causing protein and then signal the body’s ubiquitin proteasome system to eliminate the protein.

About Sequoia China (Sequoia):
Sequoia team helps daring founders build legendary companies. In partnering with Sequoia, companies benefit from our unmatched community and the lessons we’ve learned over 47 years. As “The Entrepreneurs Behind The Entrepreneurs”, Sequoia focuses on four sectors: TMT, healthcare, consumer/service, and industrial technology with a privilege of working with more than 500 companies in China over the past 14 years.

About Highlight Capital (HC):
HC currently manages both RMB & USD funds with a total AUM of nearly US$1.5 billion. Since the inception in 2014, the firm has invested in over 40 deals. HC is dedicated to supporting healthcare companies to generate robust and sustained growth prospect, and partnering with entrepreneurs of dedication and the highest standard.

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