SAN FRANCISCO & SHANGHAI– ShouTi Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company creating life-changing medicines for patients using advanced computational and structure-based technology, today announced the close of a $100 million Series B financing led by BVF Partners L.P. (BVF). Additional new investors include Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Lilly Asia Ventures, Monashee Capital, Sage Partners, Stork Capital, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), TCG X, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Woodline Partners LP, and co-founder and strategic partner Schrödinger. Existing investors also participated in the financing, including Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital China, TF Capital and Wuxi AppTec. In conjunction with the financing, Jessica Lifton of BVF and Chen Yu, M.D. of TCG X have joined the ShouTi Board of Directors.
With the completion of the Series B financing, ShouTi has raised $158 million since initiating operations. Proceeds will be used to advance the company’s discovery platform, which combines state-of-the-art computational chemistry, world-leading structural biology, and large-scale data integration to design orally available medicines with superior properties that overcome current limitations of biologic and peptide drugs. The financing will also drive the continued development of the company’s clinical-stage pipeline, focused on chronic diseases with high unmet need, including cardiovascular, metabolic and pulmonary conditions.
“In the last 20 years, our industry has developed multiple breakthroughs in biologic and peptide medicines, as well as in computational and experimental methods to improve small molecule drug discovery. Now is the time to bring that all together,” said Raymond Stevens, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, ShouTi. “We believe the combination enables the development of best-in-class, orally available small molecule medicines that more effectively treat important diseases and are accessible to all.”
The company’s drug discovery and development engine builds on over two decades of innovation in generating membrane protein structures, with a focus on G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), one of the most challenging target classes for structure-based drug discovery. ShouTi is leveraging high resolution structures to better understand and modulate pharmacological function through chemical design. As a result, ShouTi’s platform enables conversion of biologics and peptide therapeutics into orally available small molecule drugs with enhanced pharmaceutical properties, including improved bioavailability and stability. By developing oral medicines with better properties, along with reduced logistical and affordability barriers, ShouTi is well-positioned to tackle underserved chronic diseases and address global unmet needs.
“We are proud to lead ShouTi’s Series B financing and support their groundbreaking efforts to evolve the treatment of chronic diseases by converting biologics and peptides into orally available small molecule medicines,” said Mark Lampert, Founder and CEO of BVF.
“ShouTi’s investment in data integration and next-generation computational chemistry fuels a discovery engine that is purpose-built to find the best drugs for validated targets, removing biology risk and accelerating development. We look forward to supporting the ShouTi team as they create superior therapies for patients around the globe,” said Chen Yu, Managing Partner, TCG X.
ShouTi’s bold vision is being executed by a skilled group of drug developers, industry leaders and scientific experts renowned in the field of GPCR-targeted structure-based drug discovery. The team has deep experience with complex biological targets and mechanisms, and has led the discovery, development, and commercialization of multiple successful drugs. ShouTi CEO Dr. Stevens pioneered the area of high-throughput structure-based drug discovery, founding multiple successful biotech companies including Syrrx, which developed the type 2 diabetes drug Nesina®, and Receptos, which developed Zeposia® — a GPCR targeted drug recently approved for multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis. Joining Dr. Stevens are:
- Mark Bach, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer
- Michael Hanson, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer
- Melita Sun Jung, Chief Business Officer
- Xichen Lin, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and General Manager of Shanghai ShouTi
- Jun Yoon, Chief Operating Officer
SVB Leerink acted as exclusive financial advisor for ShouTi’s Series B financing.
