Lycia Therapeutics Closes At $70 Million in Series B Financing Round

Lycia Therapeutics has completed a $70 million fundraising round, intending to develop novel targeted therapeutics based on its LYTAC protein degradation technology.

FREMONT, CA: Lycia Therapeutics, Inc. has closed at an oversubscribed $70 million Series B financing. Redmile Group led the round, with new investors Cowen Healthcare Investments, Invus, RTW Investments, LP, Eli Lilly and Company, and Alexandria Venture Investments, joining the round.

Lycia intends to leverage its recent $105 million in funding, which includes a Series B raise and a $35 million upfront payment from Lilly as part of the agreement, to advance its own undisclosed LYTAC degrader discovery pipeline.

“We’ve made significant progress since our Series A last year advancing our LYTAC platform, building our team, and forging a key strategic partnership with Lilly to further expand the opportunity of our technology to address unmet patient needs,” said Aetna Wun Trombley, Ph.D., President and CEO of Lycia. “We look forward to leveraging our recent $105 million capital influx to continue this momentum and advance our discovery pipeline of novel LYTAC degraders toward the clinic. 

Were thrilled to welcome Redmile and our other new investors and are grateful for Versants continued support.”

Lycia targets the untapped extracellular proteome, including cell surface receptors and secreted proteins, using its next-generation degradation method. The company's LYTAC (lysosomal targeting chimaeras) platform can be used to a variety of treatment modalities, including antibodies and small compounds, and has the potential to block numerous targets previously thought to be intractable across a wide range of therapeutic areas and disorders.

“Lycia’s focus on the untapped extracellular proteome and the potential to leverage the LYTAC platform across therapeutic modalities, including small molecules and antibodies, has the potential to transform the protein degradation field,” said Clare Ozawa, Ph.D., Managing Director with Versant Ventures and a Director on Lycia's Board. “We are very pleased with Lycia's progress since its founding and look forward to working with Redmile and the rest of this high-quality investor syndicate on the company's next stage of growth.”