Protuoso Biosciences, a California biotechnology company developing multifunctional antibody therapies, has raised $9.5 million in seed funding from Taya Venture, Darwin Ventures, NSG Ventures and other investors. The company launched publicly alongside the funding announcement and plans to advance antibody programs across cardiometabolic disease, cancer and autoimmune conditions.
Building Multifunctional Antibody Therapies
Protuoso is developing engineered antibody platforms called “muxbodies,” designed to combine multiple protein modalities into a single molecule. The company says the platform integrates antibodies, cytokines and peptides into one scaffold to target complex disease mechanisms beyond traditional biologics and bispecific therapies.
“We designed them to combine diverse protein modalities into that single molecule, so we can leverage antibodies, cytokines, peptides [that are] put all into a single scaffold,” president and co-founder Willie Xiang told Endpoints in an interview.
Expanding Beyond Traditional Bispecifics
The startup aims to move beyond current bispecific antibody approaches by engineering molecules capable of tuning multiple biological functions simultaneously. Initial therapeutic focus areas include obesity-related cardiometabolic disease, oncology and autoimmune disorders.
“There’s been a proliferation of activity in the bispecific arena,” said co-founder and chair Tim Lu, but Protuoso wants to move beyond “blocking two things at once” and “take that to the next level” with engineering that can “really tune all aspects of the molecule.”
Hub-and-Spoke Biotech Strategy
Protuoso is also adopting a hub-and-spoke operating structure similar to models used by companies including Roivant, BridgeBio and Paragon Therapeutics. The structure gives flexibility to develop, spin out, partner or sell individual therapeutic programs depending on market opportunities and investor interest.