News Release
May 14th, 2021
LiberoThera Closes 535 Million JPY Financing to Develop GPCR-targeting Therapeutics

Tokyo, Japan, May, 14, 2021 – LiberoThera Co., Ltd. (“LiberoThera” or the “Company”), abiotechnology company dedicated to the generation of new therapeutics targeting membrane proteins
including non-producible G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announced the closing of a 535
million JPY new round, led by UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (“UTokyo IPC”, Tokyo, Japan) withparticipation from additional new investors, including MP HealthCare Venture Management (Boston,MA), Miyagin Venture Capital (Miyazaki, Japan). Beyond Next Ventures (Tokyo, Japan) also
participated in the offering as an existing investor. This round brings LiberoThera’s total funding to 800
million JPY. In conjunction with the financing, Makoto (Mark) Ohori, Ph.D., Partner at UTokyo IPC, will
join the LiberoThera Board as a Director.

Founded on revolutionary research by Prof. Shigeyuki Yokoyama, Emeritus Professor at The
University of Tokyo and Distinguished Senior Scientist at RIKEN, and built by Beyond Next Ventures,LiberoThera utilizes its cutting-edge cell-free protein expression system and non-natural amino acidtechnology to resolve the undruggability of non-producible transmembrane proteins including some
GPCR families and bring the breakthrough to treat a wide range of diseases including cancer,
autoimmune, and other untreatable disorders.
“GPCRs are a successful family of therapeutic targets, but we also know that there still remain many
attractive but unreachable targets due to their difficulties in expression and purification,” said Dr. Toru
Kanke, CEO of LiberoThera. “Our ground-breaking platform technology allows us to resolve theundruggability and generate our distinctive therapeutic pipelines. LiberoThera opens up an exciting
new frontier in GPCR drug discovery through the development of first-in-class and best-in-classtherapeutics.”
Mark Ohori, Ph.D., Partner at UTokyo IPC, commented, “We are excited to lead this funding roundand join the team as a board member. Under the leadership of LinberoThera’s enthusiastic
management team, the company has developed a robust strategy for drug development with its
enabling technologies. We believe that LiberoThera will continue to make the undruggable druggableand provide new therapeutics that address unmet medical needs for patients all over the world.”

About UTokyo IPC
The University of Tokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (UTokyo IPC, President & CEO Kazuhiko Oizumi)
is a venture investment arm for the University of Tokyo founded in 2016. Through start-up formationand venture investment, UTokyo IPC nurtures entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems around theacademic community and industries in Japan. For more information visit https://www.utokyoipc.co.jp/en/1Media Contact
Makoto (Mark) Ohori, Ph.D.
Partner+81-3-3830-2000About LiberoThera
LiberoThera is a drug discovery company targeting membrane proteins including GPCRs. Thecompany was established in 2018 based on the novel membrane protein synthesis technologies
invented at RIKEN which enable complexed membrane proteins to be prepared in natural forms withstructural and functional integrity. LiberoThera is developing novel therapeutic candidates targeting
physiologically important membrane proteins. For more information visit https://www.liberothera.com/
Media Contact
info@liberothera.com

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