Convergen has raised $15 million in Seed+ financing to advance its targeted protein degradation platform and pipeline of potential therapies for neurodegenerative and other diseases driven by pathological protein aggregation. MPCi led the round, with participation from LAV, BioTrack Capital and another biotechnology-focused investment fund.
The financing follows a $10 million seed round led exclusively by Qiming Venture Partners, bringing Convergen’s disclosed funding across the two rounds to $25 million.
Convergen plans to use the proceeds to accelerate its lead asset toward clinical development while continuing work on its broader proprietary degrader platform.
The company’s scientific approach focuses on selectively eliminating pathological protein aggregates, which are associated with diseases including Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Convergen’s platform builds on work from scientific founder Professor Ting Han.
Han’s laboratory reported the first TRIM21 molecular glue and subsequently established proof of concept for TrimTAC, a targeted degradation approach described in a November 2024 Cell publication.
TrimTAC seeks to exploit TRIM21 characteristics to target protein aggregopathies.
Convergen said the technology has also shown potential to selectively degrade targets associated with autoimmune diseases, creating opportunities beyond its initial focus on neurodegeneration.
The company is trying to differentiate itself in the increasingly competitive targeted protein degradation field by addressing aggregated proteins that can be difficult to treat with conventional drug approaches.
The next major milestone will be translating its platform from preclinical scientific validation toward clinical drug candidates.
Management said the Seed+ proceeds will provide additional resources to advance the lead program while continuing to test the broader applicability of the underlying technology across multiple disease areas.
KEY QUOTE:
“This financing will enable us to accelerate our lead asset toward the clinic while continuing to advance our pipeline.”
Dr. Jinquan Sun, CEO Of Convergen
