LEI: 549300Q7EXQQH6KF7Z84

09 September 2021

RTW Venture Fund Limited

New Investment in Lycia

RTW Participates in $70 Million Series B Round in Lycia Therapeutics

·      RTW Venture Fund Limited announces a new portfolio investment, Lycia Therapeutics

·    The proceeds from the Series B financing round are intended to advance Lycia's discovery pipeline of LYTAC degraders

RTW Venture Fund Limited (the "Company"), a London Stock Exchange-listed investment company focused on identifying transformative assets with high growth potential across the life sciences sector, is pleased to note the announcement by Lycia Therapeutics, Inc. ("Lycia") on 09 September 2021 of its completion of a US$70 million Series B financing round.

The Company, alongside other investment vehicles of RTW Investments, LP (the "Investment Manager"), confirms that it participated in the Series B financing round together with other investment firms.

Lycia is a privately held biotechnology company developing extracellular protein degradation platform LYTAC to target the untapped extracellular proteome, including cell surface receptors and secreted proteins. This platform could be extended to several therapeutic modalities, including antibodies and small molecules, with the potential to inhibit many targets previously considered intractable across a spectrum of therapeutic areas and diseases. Lycia intends to use the proceeds from this financing round and a $35 million upfront payment from a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly to continue to progress its internal undisclosed discovery pipeline of LYTAC degraders.

Roderick Wong, MD, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at the Investment Manager, said:  

"We are delighted to support Lycia's work in extracellular protein degradation, an emerging class of therapeutics, and advancement of their pipeline into IND-enabling studies, as well as the broad application potential of its LYTAC platform to create transformative therapies across multiple therapeutic indications."

The Investment Manager is looking forward to growing the Company's investment pipeline and updating shareholders on further investments by the Company in due course.

Lycia's announcement can be accessed on its website at: www.lyciatx.com, the full text of which is contained below.  

For Further Information

RTW Investments, LP                                    +1 (646) 343 9280
Stephanie Sirota, Chief Business Officer
Alexandra Taracanova, PhD, Director of Investor Relations

Julia Enright, Senior Business Development Associate

Buchanan                                                         +44 (0)20 7466 5107
Charles Ryland

Henry Wilson

George Beale

About RTW Venture Fund Limited:

RTW Venture Fund Limited (LSE: RTW) is an investment company focused on identifying transformative assets with high growth potential across the life sciences sector. Driven by a long-term approach to support innovative businesses, RTW Venture Fund invests in companies developing next-generation therapies and technologies that can significantly improve patients' lives.

RTW Venture Fund Limited is managed by RTW Investments, LP, a leading healthcare-focused entrepreneurial investment firm with deep scientific expertise and a strong track record of supporting companies developing life-changing therapies.

Visit the RTW website at www.rtwfunds.com for more information.

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The information in this announcement may include forward-looking statements, which are based on the current expectations and projections about future events, and in certain cases can be identified by the use of terms such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "estimate", "intend", "continue", "target", "believe" (or the negatives thereon) or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, as well as those included in any related materials, are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company and/or its underlying investments, including, among other things, the development of the applicable entity's business, trends in its operating industry, expected use of financing proceeds and future capital expenditures and acquisitions. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events in the forward-looking statements may not occur.

The information contained in this announcement is given at the date of its publication (unless otherwise marked). No reliance may be placed for any purpose whatsoever on the information or opinions contained in this announcement or on its completeness, accuracy or fairness.

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Lycia Therapeutics Announces $70 Million Series B Financing Led by Redmile Group

with Participation from Founding Investor Versant Ventures

 -- Advancing novel targeted therapeutics using its LYTAC protein degradation technology --

-- Plans to use $105 million in recent capital, including $35 million upfront payment from strategic collaboration with Lilly, to progress internal pipeline  --

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 9, 2021 - Lycia Therapeutics, Inc., a leader in extracellular protein degradation, today announced the completion of an oversubscribed $70 million Series B financing. Redmile Group led the round, with participation from founding investor Versant Ventures and new investors Cowen Healthcare Investments, Invus, RTW Investments, LP, Eli Lilly and Company and Alexandria Venture Investments.

Lycia is using its next-generation degradation approach to target the untapped extracellular proteome, including cell surface receptors and secreted proteins. The company's lysosomal targeting chimeras, or LYTAC, platform can be extended to several therapeutic modalities, including antibodies and small molecules, with the potential to inhibit many targets previously considered intractable across a spectrum of therapeutic areas and diseases.

The Series B financing follows Lycia's announcement in August 2021 with Lilly that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize novel targeted therapeutics using the LYTAC platform to address key unmet medical needs in Lilly's therapeutic areas of focus, including immunology and pain. Lycia plans to use its $105 million in recent funding, including its Series B raise and a $35 million upfront payment from Lilly associated with the collaboration, to continue to progress its internal undisclosed discovery pipeline of LYTAC degraders.

"We've made significant progress since our Series A last year advancing our LYTAC platform, building our team, and forging a key strategic partnership with Lilly to further expand the opportunity of our technology to address unmet patient needs," said Aetna Wun Trombley, Ph.D., President and CEO of Lycia. "We look forward to leveraging our recent $105 million capital influx to continue this momentum and advance our discovery pipeline of novel LYTAC degraders toward the clinic. We're thrilled to welcome Redmile and our other new investors and are grateful for Versant's continued support."  

Versant Ventures founded Lycia in 2019 within the firm's San Diego-based Inception labs in collaboration with academic founder Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and HHMI investigator at Stanford University.

"Lycia's focus on the untapped extracellular proteome and the potential to leverage the LYTAC platform across therapeutic modalities, including small molecules and antibodies, has the potential to transform the protein degradation field," said Clare Ozawa, Ph.D., Managing Director with Versant Ventures and a Director on Lycia's Board. "We are very pleased with Lycia's progress since its founding and look forward to working with Redmile and the rest of this high-quality investor syndicate on the company's next stage of growth."

Tim Anderson, Partner, Head of Research with Cowen Healthcare Investments, and an individual to be appointed by Redmile will join Lycia's Board of Directors in connection with the Series B round of financing. Jeremy Caldwell, Ph.D., Venture Partner with Versant Ventures, will step down from Lycia's Board. William J. Rieflin serves as Chair of Lycia's board. Mr. Rieflin currently also serves as Executive Chairman of NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., as well as on the Board of Directors of Rapt Therapeutics, Inc., Lyell Immunopharma, Inc., and Kallyope, Inc. In addition to Dr. Ozawa, other Lycia Board members include Tom Woiwode, Ph.D., Managing Director with Versant Ventures; Laurent Fischer, Ph.D., CEO of Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc.; and Dr. Wun Trombley.

About Lycia Therapeutics

Lycia Therapeutics is a biotechnology company using its proprietary lysosomal targeting chimeras (LYTACs) platform to discover and develop first-in-class therapeutics that degrade extracellular and membrane-bound proteins that drive a range of difficult-to-treat diseases, including cancers and autoimmune conditions. Headquartered in South San Francisco, Lycia was established in 2019 within founding investor Versant Ventures' Inception Therapeutics Discovery Engine in collaboration with academic founder Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and HHMI investigator at Stanford University.  For more information, please visit www.lyciatx.com.

Media Inquiries:

Liz Melone

media@lyciatx.com

617-256-6622

Company Inquiries:

info@lyciatx.com