The Venture Codex

Participated · Series C · May 2026

Accro Bioscience is a clinical-stage biotech developing first- and best-in-class small-molecule therapeutics that target regulatory cell death pathways for inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. Its lead asset, AC-101, is a selective RIPK2 inhibitor being developed for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and has completed Phase I studies in healthy volunteers in Australia and China, plus a Phase Ib/IIa proof-of-concept study in Chinese patients. The company has received IND clearance from the U.S. FDA to proceed with Phase II studies of AC-101. Accro announced a $50 million Series C to fund a Phase IIb trial of AC-101 and to advance other pipeline candidates. The company operates out of New York and Suzhou and describes a multi-asset pipeline originating from a proprietary drug discovery platform focused on regulatory cell death and inflammation. Ongoing clinical progress and the new financing position Accro to advance global development of its lead and follow-on programs.

Participated · Series D · Mar 2025

Vivace Therapeutics is a small‑molecule discovery and development company focused on first‑in‑class cancer therapies targeting the Hippo pathway, with lead program VT3989. VT3989 is a TEAD autopalmitoylation inhibitor that has been evaluated in more than 150 patients in an ongoing open‑label Phase 1 study and is described as the first and only agent of its class with compelling clinical efficacy data publicly reported. The compound has demonstrated promising efficacy and excellent safety, with particularly notable results in mesothelioma patients who have failed chemotherapy and immuno‑oncology combination regimens. Vivace plans to advance VT3989 toward a randomized registrational Phase 3 clinical trial in mesothelioma and intends to discuss its plans with the FDA later this year; clinical data will be presented at a major medical conference in the second half of 2025. Proceeds from the financing will support completion of the ongoing study, regulatory interactions, and advancement of VT3989 toward registrational trials. The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and has raised $105 million to date. Vivace Therapeutics is a small‑molecule discovery and development company focused on targeting the Hippo pathway to treat human carcinomas with high unmet need. Its lead programs pursue first‑in‑class inhibitors that block palmitoylation of TEAD family transcriptional cofactors. Preclinical data show the clinical candidate is active both as a monotherapy and in combination with other anti‑cancer therapies against tumors reliant on Hippo pathway dysfunction. The company is led by President and CEO Sofie Qiao, Ph.D., and is based in San Mateo, California. Vivace intends to use the new funding to advance its clinical candidate into first‑in‑human studies in early 2021, targeting tumors dependent on activated YAP. The company emphasizes developing therapeutics for carcinomas driven by Hippo pathway dysregulation. Vivace Therapeutics is a San Mateo, California–based oncology-focused portfolio drug discovery and development company coming out of stealth. The company is initially concentrating on inhibitors of the Hippo‑YAP signaling pathway and is exploring immuno-oncology applications related to pathway activation. Vivace is also developing novel BINspecific™ bi‑specific irreversible cell‑type specific antibodies discovered in the lab of co‑founder Bin Liu that aim to deliver potent, selective inhibition and an improved therapeutic index. Scientific co‑founder Kun‑liang Guan has identified additional potential immuno‑oncology uses for Hippo pathway activation. The company is led by president and CEO Sofie Qiao, Ph.D. Vivace announced it has secured $40M in Series A and B financings as it emerges from stealth.

Led · Series B · Feb 2023

Eluminex Biosciences focuses on novel therapeutics for vision-threatening retinal diseases and on recombinant human collagen technology for corneal applications. Its pipeline includes multi-targeted antibody molecules for retinal diseases, an oral small molecule for rare inherited pediatric retinal dystrophies, and recombinant human collagen products with the potential to become the world’s first biosynthetic cornea. The company is clinical-stage and intends to use new financing to expand its development efforts. Eluminex is building a GMP facility in the BioBAY of Suzhou Industrial Park to manufacture the recombinant human collagen biosynthetic cornea and other collagen-based products, expected to operate in mid-2023. It also maintains a clinical and registration center in South San Francisco, California. The company was founded in February 2020 and is led by Founder, Chairman and CEO Dr. Jinzhong Zhang. Eluminex Biosciences is a Shanghai‑area ophthalmic biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapeutics for vision‑threatening eye diseases. Founded in February 2020 by Dr. Jinzhong Zhang and Dr. Zhenze John Hu, the company has its headquarters and R&D center in Suzhou Industrial Park and a business center in Shanghai. Eluminex plans to build an innovative pipeline addressing critical unmet medical needs in vision‑threatening diseases worldwide. The company intends to use its recent financing to advance that pipeline and development programs. Future plans include establishing a global clinical and registration center in the San Francisco Bay Area. Leadership and scientific capabilities have been strengthened with the appointment of Charles Semba, MD as Chief Medical Officer and a Scientific Advisory Board that includes Quan Dong Nguyen, Zuguo Liu, and Xiaodong Sun.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2022

Ensem Therapeutics is a drug discovery and development company that leverages its Kinetic Ensemble platform to develop innovative small molecule precision medicines for oncology. The Kinetic Ensemble platform integrates computational and AI deep learning methodologies with advanced experimental techniques to identify non-obvious binding pockets and accelerate structure-based drug design. The company focuses on high-value and difficult-to-drug targets and may expand into genetic disorders and other disease areas. Ensem is led by CEO Sean Cao and is based in Boston, MA. In August 2022 the company raised $67M in a Series A financing, which it intends to use to further advance the Kinetic Ensemble platform and accelerate its R&D pipeline. Participants in the round included Pavilion Capital, Cenova Capital, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment and CBC Group.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2021

AnHeart Therapeutics is a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical group developing next-generation precision oncology therapeutics, operating from offices in the US and China and registered in the Cayman Islands as AnBio Therapeutics Ltd. Its lead asset, taletrectinib, is a potent, highly selective next-generation ROS1/NTRK inhibitor in Phase 2 trials for first- and second-line ROS1 fusion–positive NSCLC and in an NTRK fusion–positive solid tumor basket trial; it is reported to cross the blood–brain barrier and overcome crizotinib resistance. Taletrectinib is being studied in the China TRUST trial (NCT04395677), the global TRUST II trial (NCT04919811), and the NTRK basket trial (NCT04617054), and interim TRUST Phase 2 data for NSCLC have been published at ASCO and CSCO. The company’s pipeline also includes AB-218, an mIDH1 inhibitor in Phase 2 for lower grade glioma, cholangiocarcinoma, AML and other tumors, and AB-329, an AXL inhibitor in Phase 1 intended for use in combination with checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapies. The company plans to use recent proceeds to advance taletrectinib’s clinical development and to support continued expansion of its precision oncology pipeline and team. Since its founding in December 2018, AnHeart has raised $100 million in gross proceeds from private financings. AnHeart Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oncology therapies, headquartered in Hangzhou with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and New York. Its lead candidate, taletrectinib, is a next-generation, potent and highly selective ROS1/NTRK inhibitor that can cross the blood–brain barrier and was licensed from Daiichi Sankyo. Two Phase 1 studies in the U.S. and Japan reported promising safety and efficacy, with mPFS of 24.9 months in TKI‑naïve patients and 18.4 months in 1 TKI‑pretreated patients (data cutoff March 2019). Taletrectinib inhibits both ROS1 fusion wild type and crizotinib-resistant secondary mutations, including G2032R, and is being advanced into global Phase 2 trials. The company plans to use proceeds from its recent financing to execute the global development plan for taletrectinib and to expand and deepen its oncology portfolio over time. AnHeart was formed in November 2018 and is managed by industry veterans and financially backed by venture capital funds.