Biotech start-up AnHorn Medicines Co (安宏生醫) yesterday completed a series A funding of US$10 million, as its proprietary protein degrader and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled screening platform attracted investors, the company said.
AnHorn said it would use the fund for research and development and to support future operations.
Investors in the series A financing include Taiwania Capital Management Corp (台杉投資管理), the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院), Hong Tai Electric Industrial Co (宏泰電工), Sunplus Technology Co (凌陽科技) and Black Marble Capital Management Co (萬豐資本), the company said.
AnHorn said it is developing a new protein degrader, dubbed BIGPRO, that can precisely eliminate disease protein and help the human body become healthy.
The drug can be used to address a broad range of life-threatening diseases, with a focus on the treatment of cancer and neuro-degeneration, the company said.
Developing protein degraders is a new trend in the healthcare business as the small-molecule drug costs less in production than large-molecule drugs, it said, adding that its outlook is promising.
With its expertise in chemistry and pharmacology, the company’s AI-enabled screening platform can speed up the process of finding durable proteins and boost research efficiency, AnHorn chairman Lin Chu-Chiang (林助強) said.
Following its establishment in 2020 with paid-in capital of NT$1 billion (US$32.59 million), the company has developed two experimental drug candidates, Lin said.
The company plans to apply an investigational new drug for one candidate from the US Food and Drug Administration next year, enabling it to enter phase 1 clinical trials, he said.
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