Laigo Bio secures €17M in seed funding to further develop SureTACs.

      The SureTACs platform developed by the Dutch biotech company targets membrane proteins that have long resisted conventional drug discovery methods by eliminating them instead of simply blocking them. Biovance Capital has joined Kurma Partners as a new co-lead in a final close, bringing the oversubscribed seed round total to €17 million.

      Typically, drugs function by blocking proteins; they attach to a specific target to prevent it from causing harm. However, this approach is only effective if there is a suitable pocket to block, which many proteins involved in cancer and autoimmune diseases lack. These proteins are membrane-bound, structurally complex, and have been deemed "undruggable" for decades. Laigo Bio, based in Utrecht, is taking a different approach by engineering the destruction of these proteins rather than attempting to block them.

      The company has successfully completed the final close of its oversubscribed €17 million seed round, having raised an additional €5.5 million in a second close to the €11.5 million secured in December 2025. Biovance Capital steps in as a new co-lead investor alongside the existing co-lead, Kurma Partners. The complete syndicate now includes Kurma Partners, Biovance Capital, Curie Capital, Argobio Studio, Angelini Ventures, Eurazeo, Oncode Bridge Fund, ROM Utrecht Region, and Cancer Research Horizons. Dr. João Incio from Biovance Capital is joining the Board of Directors as part of this close.

      Laigo’s platform, known as SureTACs (Surface Removal Targeting Chimeras), utilizes a technology that creates bispecific antibodies designed to bring harmful membrane proteins into direct contact with an E3 ligase enzyme on the cell surface. This forced proximity causes the cell’s ubiquitination machinery to tag the target protein, leading to its transport to the lysosome and subsequent degradation.

      The outcome is not just inhibition but outright elimination; the target protein is physically removed from the cell surface with a selectivity that Laigo claims spares healthy tissue and minimizes side effects compared to traditional methods. The scientific groundwork for this technology was laid in Professor Madelon Maurice’s lab at UMC Utrecht and the Oncode Institute.

      The funding will be allocated to advance Laigo’s primary oncology programs through the remaining preclinical studies necessary before initiating first-in-human trials, as well as to expand discovery efforts across three candidate programs targeting autoimmune and immunological conditions, including graft rejection.

      Laigo intends to develop its oncology pipeline internally until the preclinical stage is complete, at which point it plans to collaborate with pharmaceutical partners to advance these programs into clinical trials. The autoimmune programs are still in the earlier discovery phase.

      Laigo was established with the support of the Oncode Institute, the Oncode Bridge Fund, and Argobio Studio, an international biotech startup incubator co-founded by Kurma Partners, BPI France, and Angelini Ventures. Dr. Matthew Baker, who was appointed CEO in December 2025 after serving as acting CEO, brings over 20 years of experience in drug development focusing on inflammation and oncology.

      This Utrecht-based biotech is among a select few companies worldwide that are exploring E3 ligase-mediated degradation of membrane proteins, as opposed to the intracellular targets that major players in targeted protein degradation, such as Arvinas and C4 Therapeutics, have concentrated on. Membrane proteins pose greater engineering challenges but represent a significant and largely unexplored set of validated disease targets.