Eccogene nabs $25M Series B for GLP-1 and a NASH drug candidate

An early-stage China biotech hopes to break into the GLP-1 race for obesity and diabetes as heavyweights dominate the field, with Novo Nordisk already touting Phase III data on its oral GLP-1 and Eli Lilly and Pfizer nearing their big days.

Shanghai- and Boston-based Eccogene said Monday it has raised about $25 million, or CNY 180 million, in Series B financing as it moves through a Phase I study of its small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist and takes its NASH and lipid disorders drug candidate through early-stage testing as well.

The round follows two previous 100 million RMB financings, or about $14 million in today’s money, that had been disclosed in 2020 and 2018.

Jingye Zhou

Leading the biotech are former Lilly staffers who worked in the Big Pharma’s China unit. CEO Jingye Zhou led work on “candidate selection milestones for diabetes and diabetic complications” at Lilly’s R&D center in the Asian country, and Eccogene scientific chief Jianfeng Xu worked on target validation and clinical development at Lilly. The pair founded Eccogene in 2018.

They are currently testing the once-daily tablet ECC5004 in a Phase I in healthy participants and people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The 64-person study, conducted in Anaheim, CA, is expected to wrap up in October, per a federal trials database.

That puts Eccogene far behind the leaders of the GLP-1 pack. Novo Nordisk is already on the market with Wegovy (although it’s being hampered by supply issues), and Lilly’s diabetes med Mounjaro is being prescribed off-label as the burgeoning drug class spurs a multibillion-dollar race. Wegovy and Mounjaro are injectables, but both of the drug’s makers are also testing oral versions, and a bucket of biopharmas is going after the same target, pursuing new targets or throwing money behind cell therapies.

Jianfeng Xu

The pipeline at Eccogene also includes an attempt to go after an R&D space that has long tripped up drug developers but in recent quarters has seen a string of successes. That’s the fatty liver disease nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH.

Eccogene’s THRβ full agonist ECC4703 is in a Phase I in healthy volunteers at a site in Las Vegas. The biotech compared it to Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ resmetirom, or MGL-3196, another asset in the same class that is being shipped to the FDA this quarter for a drug approval request. THRβ action is crucial for liver function and crushing liver fat, among other roles.

An SSAO/VAP-1 inhibitor, dubbed ECC0509, is “near completion” of a Phase I, Eccogene said. Its website points to NASH and osteoarthritis pain as potential indications for the investigational drug. The company’s website also highlights a preclinical small molecule Treg program for an undisclosed autoimmune indication and other metabolic and immunological work under wraps.

Eccogene’s bankrollers include New Alliance Capital, Zhangjiang Healthcare Venture Capital, Rockbleu Capital, YuFu Investment, Huajin Capital, Elikon Venture, Delos Capital, Oriza Seed Capital and Qingsong Capital, among others.

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