CORXEL Pharmaceuticals

About CORXEL Pharmaceuticals

Operating as CORXEL globally and as Jixing Pharmaceuticals in China, the company is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm established in 2019. It was founded and incubated by RTW Investments, LP, a New York-based investment firm, following a two-year analysis of healthcare innovation in Asia. The founding was led by Peter Fong, PhD, who also served as the initial CEO and has an extensive background in company creation at Flagship Pioneering and business development at Genentech. The company maintains headquarters in the US (New Jersey) and China (Shanghai and Beijing).

CORXEL's business model is centered on in-licensing and developing therapeutics for the global market, with a particular focus on addressing unmet medical needs in Greater China. The company acquires regional or global rights to drug candidates from other biotechnology firms and advances them through clinical trials. Revenue is generated through partnerships, milestone payments, and future commercialization of its product portfolio. A significant milestone was the Series D financing in January 2024, which raised $162 million, co-led by RTW Investments and Bayer. This strategic collaboration also granted Bayer negotiation rights for commercializing assets in CORXEL's cardiovascular and ophthalmology pipeline.

The company's pipeline is focused on cardiometabolic and ophthalmic diseases. Key assets with global rights include CX11, an oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity and diabetes acquired from Vincentage; JX10 for acute ischemic stroke, acquired from Biogen; and JX09, a next-generation aldosterone synthase inhibitor for hypertension, acquired from PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals. Assets with rights for Greater China include Etripamil for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) and LNZ100/101 for presbyopia. For instance, CX11, an oral formulation, offers a more convenient and accessible alternative to injectable treatments for obesity and has shown competitive weight loss in a Phase 2 trial in China, with a global Phase 2 study planned for 2025. Another key candidate, JX09, is a highly selective inhibitor that has the potential to treat hypertension with minimal side effects.