January 09, 2025 09:00 AM Eastern Time

Light Horse Therapeutics Debuts With $62 Million Series A Financing

- “Function-first” small molecule discovery company launched by Versant Ventures’ Inception Discovery Engine

- High-throughput platform identifies hidden functional chemically accessible sites on high value protein targets

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Light Horse Therapeutics Inc., a developer of first-in-class small molecule therapeutics, today announced a $62 million Series A financing. The financing was led by founding investor Versant Ventures and included Mubadala Capital as well as three strategic investors: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Taiho Ventures, and AbbVie. Light Horse is the latest company started by Versant’s Inception Discovery Engine, and its scientific co-founders are Brian Liau, PhD, Ben Cravatt, PhD, and Nathanael Gray, PhD.

“We have a unique capability to interrogate proteins and pathways, identifying functionally critical sites that can drive the development of groundbreaking first-in-class therapies”

Light Horse has developed a proprietary platform that uncovers novel functional sites in disease-critical targets. The company integrated distinct approaches to build this precision genetic editing-based platform that interrogates proteins in their native environment, providing a faster discovery of clinical candidates.

The company’s technology turns conventional drug discovery on its head by first identifying novel functional domains and then screening for chemistry. This “function-first” approach is the converse of traditional “screening-first” methodologies.

Led by Light Horse’s CSO, Laure Escoubet, PhD, the Light Horse team has translated this methodology into first-in-class preclinical programs against high-value oncology targets and has enabled a discovery collaboration with Novartis that is described in a separate press release issued today. Light Horse internal programs are now progressing through preclinical testing, paving the way towards the development of disruptive therapies.

“We are very impressed with Light Horse’s chemical genomics capabilities to rapidly investigate protein complexes at scale and to uncover unprecedented functional sites in high-value targets,” said Rami Hannoush, PhD, venture partner at Versant and a Light Horse board member. “We believe the talented team at Light Horse and its technology will enable a pipeline of first-in-class drug candidates.”

“We have a unique capability to interrogate proteins and pathways, identifying functionally critical sites that can drive the development of groundbreaking first-in-class therapies,” said Light Horse CEO Markus Renschler, MD. “Our initial focus addresses high-value, historically challenging oncology targets with the opportunity to apply the technology to other therapeutic areas in the future.”

Leadership team and scientific founders

Light Horse is led by experienced executives who possess expertise in oncology drug discovery and development. They are complemented by scientific founders who are world leaders in chemoproteomics and chemical biology.

Thomas Daniel, MD, Chairman
- Dr. Daniel has more than 25 years of experience leading and building research and development organizations and leading investments in new companies at the forefront of innovative application of science to healthcare. He served as President of Global Research and Early Development at Celgene and previously held senior leadership roles at AmbRx, Amgen and Immunex.
Markus Renschler, MD, CEO
- Dr. Renschler is a proven biotechnology executive with more than 25 years’ experience in building successful companies. Prior to Light Horse, he was President and CEO of Cyteir Therapeutics, Inc. leading it from a private discovery stage startup to a publicly traded clinical-stage company. Prior to Cyteir, he held leading roles in clinical R&D, business development and medical affairs at Celgene, Pharmion and Pharmacyclics, where he helped to develop and/or launched some of the most successful cancer drugs approved to date.
Laure Escoubet, PhD, CSO
- Dr. Escoubet has almost 20 years of experience in building successful drug discovery teams and driving drug discovery programs into the clinic. Prior experiences include Vice President, Biology, at Zentalis, Head of Epigenetic Drug Discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb/Celgene and other leading roles in early drug discovery in oncology.
Brian Liau, PhD, scientific co-founder
- Dr. Liau is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. His research group develops chemical genomic approaches to interrogate the mechanisms of gene regulatory complexes and their promise as therapeutic targets.
Ben Cravatt, PhD, scientific co-founder
- Dr. Cravatt is the Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology and Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research. His research group develops and applies chemical proteomic technologies for protein and drug discovery on a global scale and has particular interest in studying biochemical pathways in the nervous system and cancer. Dr. Cravatt is a co-founder of multiple successful biotech companies.
Nathanael Gray, PhD, scientific co-founder
- Dr. Gray is the Krishnan-Shah Family Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford, Co-Director of Cancer Drug Discovery Co-Leader of the Cancer Therapeutics Research Program, Member of Chem-H, and Program Leader for Small Molecule Drug Discovery for the Innovative Medicines Accelerator. His research uses the tools of synthetic chemistry, protein biochemistry, and cancer biology to discover and validate new strategies for the inhibition of cancer targets.

“Light Horse has deep scientific talent, a very experienced management team, and a strong syndicate of strategic and institutional investors to enhance its delivery of exceptional drug candidates addressing unmet medical need” said Dr. Daniel.

About Light Horse Therapeutics

Light Horse is leading the way in precision genome editing applied to small molecule drug discovery, pioneering approaches to target the root causes of disabling and life-threatening diseases. Its advanced platform identifies cryptic chemically accessible functional domains within targets that play critical roles in disease biology. The high-throughput discovery platform systematically interrogates complex signaling pathways to uncover unique sites of vulnerability. Light Horse interrogates these targets in their native, cellular context to best ensure that discoveries in the lab translate into the clinic. www.lighthorsetx.com.