BOSTON, MA and NINGBO, CHINA, December 27, 2022 -- LeadArt Biotechnologies, a company aiming to accelerate drug discovery by automating chemoproteomics processes and creating a human live-cell target-probe database, today announced the closure of a ~ US $6 million pre-A financing round led by BlueRun Ventures Aster and Yongchao Ventures. The new capital will be used to advance the development of LeadArt Biotechnologies’ automated chemoproteomics platform and the creation of the world’s largest human target-probe database.
“In four years, LeadArt has grown from a spin-off from the Institute of Drug Discovery Technology at Ningbo University to an A-team of more than 60 people at the crossroads of chemistry, biology, and automation. We have built a proprietary photoaffinity labeling-based protein profiling (PAL-AfBPP) platform that has proven successful in several disclosed and undisclosed collaborations with academic laboratories and pharmaceutical companies,” said Feng Ni, PhD, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, LeadArt Biotechnologies. “We are excited to leverage this funding to move aggressively in the development of our innovative technologies and external business collaborations.”
Chemoproteomic technology has attracted broad interest for its ability to reveal the mechanisms of action of phenotypic active molecules in live cells, map the unexplored target space, and identify hits for undruggable targets. LeadArt is a pioneer in automating chemoproteomics and is building a live-cell protein-probe interaction database, aiming to cover more than 15,000 proteins of the whole human proteome. Many protein targets lack qualified probes and hit molecules. LeadArt is developing live-cell-based high-throughput screening methods that will quickly identify target proteins. The company recently signed a strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca’s iCampus to develop a herbal medicine preclinical translation platform in Chengdu, China.
About LeadArt Biotechnologies
LeadArt Biotechnologies (www.leadartech.com) is accelerating drug discovery by automating chemoproteomics processes and creating a human live-cell target-probe database. LeadArt Biotechnologies’ platform integrates biotechnology and automation technologies to discover disease-related targets and chemical probes for traditionally undruggable and unexplored targets. Backed by venture capital and headquartered in Ningbo and Boston, LeadArt is leading the digital transformation of drug discovery.
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