Lykos

Lykos (lykos.com.cn), which translates to Lǎng xìn shēng wù or Innostellar Biotherapeutics, is a Chinese biotechnology firm founded in 2020 that develops and manufactures gene therapy drugs. The company primarily focuses on treatments for genetic and chronic eye diseases, with a mission to develop safe and precise gene replacement and editing technologies for clinical use. The founder and CEO is Dr. Feng-Hua Wang, who was a frontline clinical doctor at the Eye Center of Shanghai First People's Hospital and director of the Shanghai Eye Engineering Technology Research Center before establishing the company.

Lykos has established a research and development platform and production process for adeno-associated virus (AAV) products that complies with GMP regulations. The company collaborates with clinical medical scientists from well-known hospitals to advance its product pipeline. Lykos has five candidate molecules in clinical trials, with three having received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval. Its lead product, LX101, is a gene therapy for treating inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) related to RPE65 mutations and was the first of its kind to receive clinical trial approval in China. As of July 2024, enrollment for the Phase III clinical trial of LX101 was completed. Other pipeline products include LX102 for wet age-related macular degeneration, which is in a Phase II clinical trial, and LX103 for X-linked retinoschisis.

The company's business model is centered on the research, development, and eventual commercialization of these innovative gene therapies. It has successfully raised capital to fund its operations, including an Angel round in July 2021 and a B+ funding round in June 2024, led by the Shanghai Biomedical Fund with participation from shareholders like Legend Capital and United Investment.

Keywords: gene therapy, ophthalmology, AAV-based therapy, inherited retinal dystrophy, macular degeneration, RPE65 mutation, genetic diseases, chronic eye diseases, Innostellar Biotherapeutics, Feng-Hua Wang, LX101, LX102, adeno-associated virus, clinical trials, biopharmaceutical, biotechnology