REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LTZ Therapeutics, an immunotherapy-focused biotech company, today announced the completion of the company’s Series A financing of over $20 million, to advance the development of its Myeloid Engager pipeline to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. This round was led by new investor Lapam Capital and includes new investment participation from GL Ventures. In addition, the company has received continued investment from K2 Venture Partners and Shunwei Capital. The closing of this round brings LTZ’s total funding to approximately $50 million since the company was founded in 2022.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate development of LTZ’s pipeline, supporting the company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) process, initiating the Phase 1 clinical study of LTZ’s lead asset LTZ-301 as well as the IND-enabling work of its second asset, LTZ-232. The company will also use the new capital to further advance other programs in discovery and to expand its team.
“This round represents an important step forward in the development of our novel Myeloid Engager Platform for cancer and other conditions with unmet medical needs,” said Robert Li, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of LTZ. “At the heart of our approach is the fusion of reverse translational science with a deep understanding of tumor microenvironment (TME) biology, especially myeloid biology. We’ve made significant progress this past year, not only validating the company’s platform in various preclinical test systems including cancer patient-derived organoid models, but also advancing our lead asset LTZ-301 from discovery to an IND-enabling stage. We are thankful for the ongoing support of our scientific team, advisory board and our syndicate of investors, making all of our accomplishments possible.”
Macrophages appear to be one of the most prevalent immune cell populations in TME of various hematologic and solid tumors. Therefore, effectively engaging and activating macrophages to kill cancer cells represents significant therapeutic potential for patients. Based on reverse translational research to inform new discoveries and the emerging myeloid biology of TME in a broad range of cancer types, LTZ is developing its own novel Myeloid Engager Platform to primarily enhance the phagocytic function of monocytes and macrophages to foster anti-tumor immunity.
“LTZ comprises a highly skilled and passionate team that brings together a unique complement of expertise,” said Zhihua Yu, Founding Partner at Lapam Capital. “We are excited about the reverse translational approach LTZ is taking to maximize the drugability of their assets. LTZ’s Myeloid Engager Platform and their pipeline have the potential to greatly impact the future of immunotherapy development, aiming to rebalance the immune system and improve patient outcomes. The preclinical results thus far carry promising clinical benefits and suggest applicability of LTZ’s model for a wide spectrum of cancer indications (liquid and solid) and autoimmune diseases, where the unmet need is incredibly high.”
About LTZ
LTZ Therapeutics is an immunotherapy-focused biotech company pursuing the development of novel therapies, with the company’s novel Myeloid Engager Platform, to improve clinical outcomes in patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. With main operations in Redwood City, California and Shenzhen, China as well as a team out of Heidelberg Germany, LTZ is dedicated to developing immunotherapies capable of overcoming resistance and boosting anti-tumor immunity based on reverse translational science and emerging disease biology of tumor microenvironment. For more information, please visit https://www.ltztherapeutics.com/.
