Laigo Bio BV, a Dutch biotech with a platform designed to promote the degradation of disease-causing proteins, has received €11.5 million in seed financing to advance early-stage programmes in oncology and autoimmunity. The financing was co-led by Kurma Partners of France and Curie Capital of the Netherlands. Other investors included France-based Argobio Studio, an incubator which participated in Laigo’s launch in 2022.
Laigo is a new player in the field of targeted protein degradation which features molecules that can recruit protein complexes known as ubiquitin ligases to help carry out the breakdown of proteins. Protein degradation is a natural process by which cells in the human body break down proteins that are damaged or no longer needed, in order to maintain equilibrium. Scientists have discovered that this mechanism can also target disease pathways. The E3 ligase, an enzyme in the ubiquitin system, is a key player.
Laigo’s technology platform consists of bispecific antibody molecules that induce degradation by bringing a cell surface target protein into close proximity with a surface E3 ligase enzyme, resulting in the inhibition of certain disease pathways. Known as ‘surface removal targeting chimeras’ (SureTAC), the technology was developed by the laboratory of Professor Madelon Maurice at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Laigo said that it intends to advance its oncology programmes internally until completion of preclinical studies before collaborating with a partner to bring them into clinical development. Globally, there are two types of protein degradation molecules that are in development against cancer and other diseases. They are molecular glue molecules, which are monovalent molecules and PROTACs (proteolysis targeting chimera) which are bifunctional molecules with a linker. One of the biggest players in the field is Bristol Myers Squibb Co which is developing both molecular glue and PROTAC molecules.
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