What changed, and when

Fortitude Biomedicines launch with a $13M seed, co-led by K2 Bio Partners, Shanghai Healthcare Angel Capital, and Elikon Venture, and with appointed founder Jesse Chen as President and CEO. Fortitude seeks to advance an immune-cell-targeting biologic into IND-enabling work and build a GLUE-DAC platform that uses molecular-glue degraders as ADC payloads (Business Wire). Independent trade coverage frames the launch as an attempt to tackle ADC resistance and extend the modality to autoimmune disease (Fierce Biotech, MedCity News).

60-second thesis frame

Fortitude’s bet is that conjugating molecular-glue degraders to antibodies, GLUE-DAC, can widen ADC therapeutic windows and address resistance, while a separate bispecific biologic, FORT-202, advances for autoimmune disease. The GLUE-DAC concept traces to the Jin Wang lab at Baylor College of Medicine, and the seed backs a preclinical pipeline including FORT-101 for oncology, though no targets are yet disclosed (Business Wire, Fierce Biotech, Fortitude pipeline, MedCity News). The big strategic question is platform translatability, both for safety of degraders as payloads and for manufacturability, against a backdrop where pharma has already validated DAC-style partnerships, for example Seagen–Nurix and BMS–Orum, signaling interest in the class (Nurix–Seagen press release, Orum–BMS announcement).

The seven diligence questions

Clinical

• What are the degradation targets and E3 ligases used in GLUE-DAC candidates, and how do they compare with cytotoxic payloads on potency and selectivity in primary human cell systems, not just immortalized lines?
• For FORT-202, what are the two binding specificities, what is the rationale for dual targeting across autoimmune pathobiology, and do IND-enabling tox and PK data in NHPs support a first-in-human dose with a viable margin (Fortitude pipeline)?

Payer or Access

• If FORT-202 proves clinic-ready and is administered in office, what is the expected Medicare Part B pathway, J-code timing, and site-of-care economics, noting quarterly HCPCS cycles for drugs and biologics (CMS coding decisions)?
• In autoimmune categories with tight utilization management, how would step-therapy and prior-auth templates impact uptake versus entrenched biologics and private-label biosimilars controlled by major PBMs (Drug Channels Institute analysis of 2025 PBM exclusions)?

Ops or Adoption

• What is the GLUE-DAC CMC plan for linker stability, DAR control, and degrader release kinetics, and which CDMOs have been lined up for payload, conjugation, and scale-up to IND quality?

Competitive

• How is GLUE-DAC differentiated from DAC programs at Pfizer/Seagen–Nurix and BMS–Orum in choice of targets, degrader chemistry, and delivery biology, and is there room to partner rather than head-to-head compete (Nurix–Seagen press release, Orum–BMS announcement)?

Team or Cap table

• Does the current $13M seed support both IND-enabling for FORT-202 and platform maturation to a compelling DAC data package, and what syndicate depth or strategic capital is queued for a Series A (Business Wire)?

Red flags

• Platform risk: no human data yet for molecular-glue payloads inside ADCs, creating uncertainty on degrader exposure at the target cell versus systemic off-tissue effects (Fierce Biotech context).
• Execution risk: $13M seed to fund both IND-enabling for a bispecific and preclinical GLUE-DAC may be thin unless near-term partnering offsets burn (Business Wire).
• Signal ambiguity: company site shows the launch news but lists a 26 Jan 2025 date stamp, suggesting a web CMS dating issue that should be reconciled in diligence (Fortitude website).

Next catalyst

Watch for preclinical poster or oral updates at World ADC London, 23–26 Feb 2026, and potential oncology abstracts at AACR Annual Meeting, 17–22 Apr 2026, which are logical venues for GLUE-DAC platform data if ready (World ADC London 2026, AACR 2026).

FAQ

• What exactly changed by Fortitude’s launch with $13M in financing on 26 Jan 2026, and why does it matter for oncology and autoimmune markets?
  Fortitude emerged with $13M seed capital to progress an immune-cell-targeting bispecific through IND-enabling work and develop GLUE-DAC, a platform that places molecular-glue degraders as ADC payloads to address resistance and widen safety windows (Business Wire, Fierce Biotech).
• What is the regulatory path after Fortitude’s launch and what are the next formal steps in the US, UK, and EU?
  For the biologic program, the immediate aim is a US IND submission followed by early clinical work, then standard HCPCS coding and reimbursement steps only after approval; the US coding process for drugs and biologics runs quarterly for J-codes (CMS coding decisions). No formal UK or EU filings have been announced at launch.
• Which endpoints in Fortitude’s programs are in focus per the 26 Jan 2026 launch, and how meaningful is the reported effect size?
  Targets and quantitative effects were not disclosed. Public materials name FORT-202 as a bispecific for autoimmune disease in IND-enabling work and FORT-101 as an oncology GLUE-DAC in discovery, with NHP preclinical signals referenced for FORT-202, but without posted datasets yet (Fortitude pipeline, MedCity News).
• What safety issues matter for the “GLUE-DAC” class post-launch?
  The primary safety concern for Degrader-ADCs is the “bystander effect” and systemic toxicity if the degrader payload is released prematurely in the blood. Unlike standard chemo-ADCs, degraders can have complex off-target effects on protein homeostasis if not tightly conjugated (MedCity News).
• How will major US payers treat access if Fortitude’s autoimmune biologic succeeds, including prior auth or step edits, and are codes available?
  Commercial PBMs frequently impose step therapy and prior authorization in autoimmune categories, with 2025 templates showing aggressive formulary steering that could affect future entrants; J-codes are only applicable after approval via the HCPCS process (Drug Channels Institute analysis, CMS coding decisions).

Publisher / Disclosure

Publisher: LucidQuest Ventures Ltd. Produced: 26 Jan 2026, 22:03 London. Purpose: general and impersonal information. Not investment research or advice, no offer or solicitation, no suitability assessment. UK: directed at investment professionals under Article 19(5) and certain high-net-worth entities under Article 49(2)(a)–(d) of the Financial Promotion Order 2005. Others should not act on this. Sources and accuracy: public sources believed reliable, provided “as is,” may change without notice. No duty to update. Past performance is not reliable. Forward-looking statements carry risks. Methodology: questions-first framework using public sources. No conflicts. Authors do not hold positions unless stated. © 2026 LucidQuest Ventures Ltd. (Business Wire)

Entities / Keywords

Fortitude Biomedicines; GLUE-DAC; molecular glue; degrader-antibody conjugates; ADC; targeted protein degradation; FORT-202; FORT-101; autoimmune disease; oncology; bispecific antibody; Baylor College of Medicine; Jin Wang; Jesse Chen; K2 Bio Partners; Shanghai Healthcare Angel Capital; Elikon Venture; Everjoy Fortune; Taihill Venture; Seagen; Pfizer; Nurix Therapeutics; Bristol Myers Squibb; Orum Therapeutics; IND-enabling studies; HCPCS; J-code; CMS; PBM; step therapy; prior authorization; AACR 2026; World ADC London 2026; Waltham Massachusetts; biologics CMC.

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