Illimis Therapeutics, a company developing a chimeric fusion protein platform (GAIA, Gas6-mediated Anti-Inflammatory Adpator) for neurodegenerative diseases, has attracted large-scale investment amid deteriorating bio investment landscape.  

The company (Co-founder and CEO Sang Hoon Park) announced on April 14 that they have successfully closed the Series A investment of $15.4 million (20 billion won). 

With this investment, Illimis Therapeutics has secured a cumulative amount of $22 million (29 billion won) investment in one year, following last year's Pre-A round. 

This round was led by previous investors Woori Venture Partners (formerly KTB Network), Aju IB Investment, Company K Partners, and Dayli Partners who continued follow-up investments after Pre-A round, and new investors including Korea Development Bank, STIC Ventures, Quad Investment Management, GS Ventures, NH Investment & Securities, Wonik Investment Partners, and LSK Investment. 

The company is finalizing the optimization of its GAIA platform, which serves as the foundation for the company's lead pipeline, ILM01.The drug aims to treat Alzheimer's disease and is currently in the process of selecting preclinical candidates. ILM01 has the potential to become a best-in-class drug, as its unique ability to circumvent pro-inflammatory responses could prevent Amyloid-Related Imaging Abnormalities (ARIA) or brain shrinkage, common side effects found in existing immunotherapies. 

In addition to Alzheimer's Disease, Illimis Therapeutics plans to expand therapeutic applications to other neurodegenerative diseases such as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Parkinson's Disease through the development of its tau-targeting pipeline ILM02 and alpha-synuclein (α-Syn)-targeting pipeline ILM03. 

"We have laid the foundation for becoming a global leading biotech in TAM biology to treat intractable diseases by utilizing various functions of TAM receptor as well as advancing the platform by securing competitive advantages through unique GAIA technology and diversifying modalities," said a company official.