What Cullgen does

Cullgen Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2018 and headquartered in San Diego, California, with research and development operations in Shanghai, China. The company develops targeted protein degrader therapies using its proprietary uSMITE™ (ubiquitin-mediated, small molecule-induced target elimination) platform, which harnesses the body's innate ubiquitin-proteasome system to destroy disease-causing proteins, including those previously considered 'undruggable' by traditional small molecule inhibitors. Cullgen's pipeline includes two clinical-stage candidates: CG001419, an oral pan-TRK degrader being evaluated in Phase 1 trials for both NTRK fusion-positive solid tumors and acute post-operative pain, and CG009301, a selective GSPT1 degrader for relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies. The company is also developing Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs) as a next-generation ADC modality and has built proprietary novel E3 ligase ligands in-house rather than relying on common thalidomide-analog ligases.

Cullgen's business model is that of a pre-commercial biopharmaceutical company, with no product revenue. Revenue is derived from strategic partnership and licensing arrangements, most notably a 2023 collaboration and exclusive option agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc. that included $35M upfront, up to $85M upon license exercise, and potential milestones exceeding $1.9 billion plus royalties. The company has raised approximately $121M in equity financing across seed ($15M, GNI Group, 2018), Series A ($16M, Sequoia Capital China and HighLight Capital, 2019), Series B ($50M, 3E Bioventures-led, 2021), and Series C ($40M, AstraZeneca-CICC-led, 2023). Cullgen was acquired by Gyre Therapeutics in May 2026 in an approximately $300 million all-stock transaction, becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary that combines its U.S.-based R&D with Gyre's China-based commercial infrastructure. Cullgen's customer base consists of patients with cancer, pain, and inflammatory diseases, while its direct commercial counterparties are large pharmaceutical partners and equity investors.

Name

Cullgen

Legal name

Cullgen Inc.

Website

https://cullgen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Cullgen is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein degrader therapies using its proprietary uSMITE™ platform to treat cancer, pain, and inflammatory diseases. The company was acquired by Gyre Therapeutics in May 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical-stage targeted protein degradation therapeutics

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254)

akta.pro primary industry

Drug Discovery (Target ID/Validation & Hit Discovery) (HLAIALAA)

Keywords

• Targeted protein degradation
• Clinical-stage biopharmaceuticals
• Protein degrader therapeutics
• Ubiquitin-proteasome platform
• Degrader-antibody conjugates

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Partnership and Licensing Revenue: Strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies generating upfront payments, milestone payments, and potential royalty payments on commercial sales. Examples include Astellas partnership with $35M upfront, up to $85M upon license exercise, and potential total exceeding $1.9B in milestones plus royalties.
2. Product Sales (Future): Pre-commercial stage with no current product revenue. Upon regulatory approval, the company would generate revenue from product sales of targeted protein degraders for cancer, pain, and inflammatory diseases.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cullgen is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops targeted protein degrader small-molecule therapeutics using its proprietary uSMITE™ platform. Its pipeline includes CG001419, an oral pan-TRK degrader in Phase 1 trials for solid tumors and acute post-operative pain, and CG009301, a GSPT1 degrader in a Phase 1 trial in China for relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies, supplemented by a Degrader-Antibody Conjugate (DAC) platform for antibody-directed cancer therapy.

Product overview

Cullgen is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein degradation therapies using its proprietary uSMITE™ platform. The company's portfolio consists of two clinical-stage product candidates: CG001419, an oral pan-TRK degrader being developed for both solid tumors and pain management, and CG009301, a GSPT1 degrader for blood cancers. Cullgen also develops Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs) as a next-generation delivery technology for cancer therapy. The company operates with R&D facilities in both San Diego, USA and Shanghai, China. Cullgen was acquired by Gyre Therapeutics in May 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• uSMITE™ Platform Proprietary ubiquitin-mediated, small molecule-induced target elimination (uSMITE™) drug discovery platform that uses bifunctional small molecules to bind a disease-causing protein and recruit an E3 ligase, driving ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of targets considered previously "undruggable" by traditional functional site inhibition. Used internally by Cullgen for pipeline generation and made available to partners through discovery collaborations.
• CG001419 (TRK Degrader) First-in-class, selective, oral pan-tropomyosin receptor kinase (pan-TRK) protein degrader being evaluated in two separate Phase 1 trials: one in solid tumors with NTRK gene fusions (including NTRK fusion-positive cancers and wild-type TRK over-expression) and one in acute post-operative pain, designed as a non-opioid, non-NSAID analgesic therapy. Licensed to Astellas Pharma for further development and commercialization under the 2023 strategic collaboration.
• CG009301 (GSPT1 Degrader)

Quantifiable outcome

• Phase 1 trial showed all doses well-tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events in 78 healthy volunteers
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Astellas Pharma Inc.flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 June 2023Strategic research collaboration and exclusive option agreement to discover multiple innovative protein degraders. Astellas provides $35M upfront, up to $85M upon license exercise, and potential total exceeding $1.9B in milestones plus royalties. Cullgen can participate in costs, profits, losses, and co-promote partnered products in the U.S. for lead program (cell cycle protein degrader for breast cancer and solid tumors).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Arvinas: Pioneer and clinical leader in targeted protein degradation using PROTAC bifunctional degraders. Most directly comparable to Cullgen — both develop heterobifunctional small-molecule degraders leveraging the ubiquitin-proteasome system, with multiple clinical-stage oncology assets.
• Kymera Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing targeted protein degraders (PROTAC-based) across oncology and immunology indications. Comparable modality, target classes, and pipeline structure to Cullgen's uSMITE platform.
• C4 Therapeutics: Clinical-stage company developing small-molecule degraders (including MonoDACs and bifunctional degraders) for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Directly competes with Cullgen in TPD modality and target space.
• Nurix Therapeutics: Develops targeted protein degraders and E3 ligase modulators using its DELigase platform, with multiple clinical-stage assets and major pharma partnerships (Sanofi, Gilead). Closely comparable TPD peer with similar partnership-driven business model.
• Monte Rosa Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing molecular glue degraders leveraging cereblon and novel E3 ligases for cancer and immunology. Comparable modality and platform differentiation strategy to Cullgen's proprietary E3 ligand approach.
• Foghorn Therapeutics: Develops therapeutics targeting the chromatin regulatory system, including protein degraders. Overlaps with Cullgen in applying TPD to 'undruggable' transcription factors and regulatory proteins.

Emerging players

• Frontier Medicines: Privately-held biotech combining chemoproteomics with targeted protein degradation to drug challenging targets. Comparable in approach of expanding the degradable target universe using proprietary ligase ligands.
• Amphista Therapeutics: Europe-based TPD company developing bifunctional degraders with novel mechanisms beyond traditional PROTACs. Comparable to Cullgen in exploring differentiated E3 ligase engagement.

Broad incumbents

• Astellas Pharma: Cullgen's largest pharma partner ($1.9B+ potential milestone package). Astellas is building internal TPD capabilities, making it both a customer and a broad incumbent exploring the same degrader space.
• AstraZeneca: Major pharma investor via the AZ-CICC fund (led Cullgen's $40M Series C) with internal TPD programs and ADC franchise. Comparable as both a strategic investor and competing modality developer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cullgen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cullgen