CasCade Therapeutics Closes Nearly 500 Million Yuan Major Funding Round, Targeting Nuclear Receptor and GPCR Innovative Drug R&D

On February 10, CasiCade announced it had successfully closed a new funding round of nearly RMB 500 million. The round was led by Zhongping Capital, with participation from China Life Capital, Qingsong Capital, Qingdao Conson, and other well-known investment institutions. Previous lead investor SDIC Xianfeng and existing shareholders Gaorong Ventures and Kangjun Capital also continued to increase their stakes. Over the past ten months, CasiCade has raised nearly RMB 1 billion in total.

Gaorong Ventures led CasiCade's Pre-A round in 2020 and has added to its investment in subsequent rounds.

Focusing on Nuclear Receptor and GPCR Innovative Drug R&D

Building Quality Chinese Solutions for Metabolic Diseases

Founded in 2017, CasiCade is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on diseases related to bile acid metabolism disorders. The company develops and advances nuclear receptor and G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) innovative drugs from the ground up, starting with primary biliary cholangitis as its entry point and expanding into metabolic diseases including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), obesity, and diabetes.

This funding round not only set a new record for the company's single-round financing amount but also underscores capital markets' recognition of the R&D team's "technical hard power + differentiated pipeline" in the nuclear receptor and GPCR space. The proceeds will focus on two priorities: first, accelerating the global multi-center Phase III clinical trial of its lead pipeline to drive global registration for MASH, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), obesity, and other indications; and second, continuing to expand the R&D pipeline matrix to develop a series of potential Best-in-class/First-in-class therapies in metabolic diseases, building quality Chinese solutions.

Core Pipeline Achieves Breakthrough Progress

Actively Advancing Clinical Trials

To date, CasiCade's core pipeline asset CS0159 has received FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation and Orphan Drug status, with multiple breakthrough achievements. Its oral tablet formulation has successfully completed Phase II trials for MASH in the United States. In China, the Phase II core study for PBC has concluded with demonstrated significant therapeutic potential, and the company is now actively advancing Phase III trials. Meanwhile, the research team has been actively exploring CS0159 combination regimens, conducting studies of CS0159 combined with GLP-1 receptor agonists. This approach aims to manage body weight from different angles to achieve enhanced weight reduction effects while exerting synergistic effects on improving hepatic steatosis and inflammation, offering new ideas for metabolic disease treatment.

In addition, the company's two other pipeline assets are steadily progressing through clinical trials and also showing exceptional potential. The highly selective THRβ small molecule agonist CS060380 has successfully initiated Phase II trials; candidate drug CS060304 has successfully completed the main body of Phase I trials, demonstrating the company's deep strength in nuclear receptor drug development.

Gathering Toward the New

Committed to Becoming a Global Leader in Metabolic Diseases

Dr. Huaqiang Xu, founder of CasiCade, stated: "Gathering toward the new — on behalf of the team, I would like to express our special thanks to new and existing shareholders for their firm choice and trust, which helps the team adhere to long-termism and remain confident in an innovative future. This is not only an affirmation of the team's capabilities in nuclear receptor and GPCR-targeted drug R&D but also strengthens our resolve to tackle unmet medical needs in metabolic diseases. We look forward to, with the continued support of new and existing shareholders, further accelerating the clinical development and commercialization of CS0159, fully leveraging the company's original advantages in structure-based drug design technology, and consistently adhering to the core philosophy of 'first principles.' We will continue to deeply cultivate the metabolic disease treatment field and are committed to bringing more innovative therapies to patients with PBC, MASH, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases as soon as possible."

Dr. Jiangtao Yu, Managing Director at Gaorong Ventures, stated: "Gaorong Ventures has invested in multiple rounds in CasiCade for two reasons. On one hand, we see enormous unmet demand globally in metabolic diseases and firmly believe that safer and more effective therapies are needed. More importantly, over the past few years, the CasiCade team, with its pure dedication to science and unwavering tenacity, has successfully advanced multiple blockbuster candidate pipelines to critical clinical development stages, demonstrating tremendous potential to become a global leader in metabolic diseases. We look forward to this funding round further accelerating CasiCade's clinical trial progress, so that revolutionary innovative drugs can benefit more people as soon as possible."