On November 28, 2022, Hangzhou Polymed Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (Hangzhou Polymed Biopharmaceuticals, hereinafter referred to as "Polymed") reported the commencement of the Pre-A+ round of financing jointly invested by Cybernaut Investment and ZJKF Capital Management Co. , Ltd (ZJKF Capital) (Press release, Polymed Biopharmaceuticals, NOV 28, 2022, View Source [SID1234630625]). The funds obtained from this round of financing will be used to support the IND submission and clinical trial planning of the company’s two preclinical candidate compounds (PCCs).
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Based in Hangzhou with offices in Shanghai and Boston, Polymed is focused on discovery and development of novel drugs for high unmet medical need in cancer and autoimmune disease. Polymed’s differentiated discovery platform is designed to tackle "undruggable" drug targets using bifunctional molecules especially PRTOACs. The core leadership team of Polymed consists of three experts with more than 20 years of experience working in top international pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis and Pfizer for new drug research and development. Polymed has established a rich product pipeline on PROTAC and small molecule inhibitors.
Unlike conventional small molecule inhibitors, PROTACs are bifunctional molecules that remove disease causing abnormal proteins through the proteasomal degradation pathway. PROTACS can be applied to a wide range of targets including those that are intractable by conventional small molecules. Polymed’s PROTAC platform is built upon a unique and proprietary linker library that can be used for rapid optimization of PROTACs. Polymed has further combined the PROTAC approach with state of the art technologies such as artificial intelligence, structure biology and proteomics. This platform has been validated for multiple targets, including a preclinical candidate with proof of concept efficacy and safety data in animal models.
The company has also made a major breakthrough of bifunctional small molecule inhibitors. At present, a candidate compound with unique inhibition profile and excellent pharmaceutical properties has been established, and CMC work has been initiated. The new round of funding will enable the advancement of the preclinical program to the clinic, aiming at advancement of the lead programs to preclinical proof of concept and further development of the platform.
Dr. Jason Shaoyun Xiang, founder and CEO of Polymed, believes that the development of new PROTAC drugs is a disruptive technological innovation, and its potential impact may be comparable to that of therapeutic antibodies two decades ago and mRNA vaccines today, bringing about a wave of novel therapeutics. This disruptive technological breakthrough will undoubtedly bring great benefits to patients, and reward those visionary supporters. Dr. Xiang sincerely thanks the team of Cybernaut, Kefa and Matrix Partners for their firm trust in and support to Polymed. Polymed will make full use of its team experience and international advantages to rapidly advance the research and development progress of various projects, and strive to develop more efficacious therapeutics for patients as soon as possible.
Kaixuan Liu, vice president of Cybernaut Investment, said that the evolution of new small molecule drug discovery has continued from the previous wave of kinase inhibitors to the current wave of protein degradation agents. We are very optimistic about the revolutionary breakthrough that PROTAC technology will bring to the pharmaceutical industry. The Polymed team led by Dr. Xiang has world-class cutting-edge research and practical experiences in medicinal chemistry and the biology of innate immune pathway targets, which will enable the fruitful R & D efforts for company’s PROTAC pipelines.
Gao Chen, vice president of ZJKF Capital, said that PROTAC technology breaks through the drug design concept of inhibition, addresses the traditional "undruggable" target problems and endows small molecule drugs with a new mode of action. It is considered as a Revolutionary technology in the field of biomedicine. The Polymed’s founding team has accumulated many years of experiences in the field of PROTAC, developed multiple technical platforms for PROTAC drug design, and screened out a number of highly competitive candidate compounds. We are very please to work with Polymed, and believe that Polymed is destined to become an innovative biomedical technology company with global influence, bringing breakthrough therapeutics to patients in the field of tumor and autoimmunity.
Dr. Zhiyun Yu, a partner of Matrix Partners, said that Polymed not only has a rich small molecule new drug pipeline but also has corresponding PROTAC technology: its small molecule new drug has the potential of being first in class or best in class in China, and we are optimistic about its potential in the upcoming clinical development. PROTAC technology is one of the key areas of focus for Matrix. It has been initially validated internationally but is still in the early stage of rapid development in China. It has broad application prospects in difficult-to-drug targets.