Light Horse Therapeutics

About Light Horse Therapeutics

Light Horse Therapeutics is a San Diego-based drug discovery company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics. The company was founded in 2022 by prominent academics Brian Liau of Harvard, Ben Cravatt of Scripps Research, and Nathanael Gray of Stanford, and launched with initial backing from Versant Ventures and Mubadala Capital.

The company's proprietary "function-first" platform utilizes tools from chemical and computational biology, combined with precision genome editing, to identify novel functional and ligandable sites on high-value protein targets implicated in diseases. This approach inverts the traditional drug discovery model by first identifying these critical functional domains within proteins in their native cellular environment and then screening for chemistry to target them. The platform is designed to interrogate complex signaling pathways to find unique points of vulnerability, focusing initially on historically difficult oncology targets.

Light Horse Therapeutics debuted in January 2025 by announcing a $62 million Series A financing round. The round was led by founding investor Versant Ventures and included Mubadala Capital, along with strategic investors Bristol-Myers Squibb, Taiho Ventures, and AbbVie. Concurrently, the company announced a multi-target strategic collaboration with Novartis. Under this agreement, Light Horse received a $25 million upfront payment and is eligible for up to $1 billion in research, development, and sales milestones, plus royalties on any resulting licensed therapeutics. The partnership aims to leverage Light Horse's platform to discover and develop new therapies.

The business operates on a dual model of advancing its internal preclinical programs while also engaging in strategic collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies. Its revenue streams consist of upfront payments, milestone-based payments, and potential future royalties from its partnerships, alongside the value generated from its proprietary drug pipeline. The leadership team includes CEO Markus Renschler and CSO Laure Escoubet, who have experience in developing and commercializing cancer treatments.