Helicore Bio

Long-Acting Medicines to Transform Metabolic Health

Pioneering long-acting antibody conjugates to deliver quarterly administered, best-in-category therapies for obesity and cardiometabolic disease.

View Our Pipeline
3
Proprietary programs from a single platform backbone
30
Human subjects dosed with Helicore's proprietary first-in-class GIP ligand binder
2
Proprietary libraries of potent, selective and stable therapeutic peptides for metabolic disease
Q3M+
Target dosing frequency — quarterly or less frequent injection
About

A First-in-Class Platform for Long-Acting Metabolic Medicine

Helicore Bio is developing long-acting therapies in obesity and cardiometabolic disease using our proprietary antibody-peptide conjugate platform.

We have developed proprietary libraries of GLP-1R agonist and amylin receptor agonist therapeutic peptides, optimized for relevant bias, selectivity, and potency characteristics. These peptides are designed for stability, driving intact conjugate durability, and conjugation to a variety of therapeutic antibodies via the Helicore conjugate platform.

Our conjugate pipeline is anchored with our proprietary GIP ligand binder antibody, which has demonstrated first-in-class safety, tolerability, and target engagement in our Phase 1 study.

Helicore is backed by world-class life science investors and led by a team with deep experience across drug discovery, development, and company building in metabolic disease.

Platform Components

GIP Ligand-Binding Antibody

First-in-class antibody with Phase 1 clinical validation — clean safety, tolerability, and durable target engagement.

Biased GLP-1 Agonist Peptide Library

Proprietary library of biased, stable GLP-1 agonist peptides engineered for potency, biased agonism, and conjugate stability.

Selective Amylin Agonist Peptide Library

Proprietary library of potent, selective amylin analog peptides with tunable AMY1R/AMY3R selectivity profiles.

Leadership

Led by Veteran Biotech Company Builders

Peter DiLaura
Peter DiLaura
Chief Executive Officer and Board Director
Peter is the Chief Executive Officer of Helicore, and a seasoned biotech executive and Board Director. Peter previously served as CEO of Initial Therapeutics, CEO of Second Genome, and Chief Business and Strategy Officer at Sonoma Biosciences. He was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures and serves as an Independent Director at Character Biosciences and Weave Bio.
James Patterson
James Patterson, Ph.D.
VP, Discovery
James leads research efforts in biopharmaceutical innovation at Helicore. He brings deep expertise in molecular design and biological sciences, with prior roles at Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Sorrento Therapeutics, and Ferring. He holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University and completed postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute, where he contributed to pioneering research in multispecific GLP-1 agonists and antibody conjugation technologies.
Paul Kierstead
Paul Kierstead, Ph.D.
VP, Drug Substance
Paul leads drug substance development and manufacturing at Helicore. An experienced biotech operator with 15+ years in early-stage drug discovery and development, he co-founded Nemoplex and previously served as head of chemistry and drug substance at Tricida. He holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UC Berkeley and a B.S. from UC Santa Barbara.
Kalpesh Biyani
Kalpesh Biyani
VP, Drug Product
Kalpesh brings 20+ years of experience spanning discovery, preclinical and clinical development, and commercial process validation. He has played key roles at Ilypsa, Relypsa, and Tricida, advancing innovative metabolic and renal therapies from early-stage research to the clinic. He holds an M.S. in Materials Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Kevin Grove
Kevin Grove, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor
Kevin is a Venture Partner at Versant Ventures and a recognized KOL in cardiometabolic disease. He spent nearly 10 years at Novo Nordisk establishing the Obesity Research unit in Seattle, working across target discovery, drug development, and commercialization in obesity, diabetes, NASH/MASH, and CVD. Prior to Novo Nordisk, Kevin spent 20 years at Oregon Health Science University.

Board of Directors

Klaus Veitinger, MD, Ph.D.
Chairman
Carlo Rizzuto
Board Director
Dina Chaya
Board Director
Jing Liang
Board Director

Investors

OrbiMed
Versant Ventures
Wellington Management
Longitude Capital
Pipeline

Quarterly+ Medicines Built on a Modular First-in-Class Platform

Helicore programs combine our validated GIP ligand-binding antibody backbone with distinct proprietary peptide payloads — targeting different patient populations and indications from a single, modular platform.

Antibody-Peptide Conjugates
Discovery
Lead Optimization
Dev. Candidate
Clinical
HCR-488
GIP Ligand Binder + Biased GLP-1
HCR-688
GIP Ligand Binder + Amylin
HCR-588
Triple Mechanism
Antibodies
Discovery
Lead Optimization
Dev. Candidate
Clinical
HCR-188
GIP Ligand-Binding Antibody

HCR-488

GIP Ligand Binding + Biased GLP-1 Agonist

  • GIP ligand binding depletes circulating GIP upstream of receptor interaction, addressing CNS leptin resistance and peripheral fat storage
  • Biased GLP-1 receptor agonism reduces receptor internalization and desensitization — maintaining efficacy while limiting GI side effects
  • Antibody engineering and proprietary conjugate stability to support quarterly or less frequent dosing

HCR-688

GIP Ligand Binding + Amylin Agonist

  • AMY1R selectivity superior to key competitors; CGRPR activity effectively absent (>10,000x selectivity vs. AMY3R)
  • Receptor selectivity tunable across the spectrum for optimized efficacy and tolerability balance

HCR-588

GIP Ligand Binding + GLP-1R / Amylin-R Dual Agonism

  • GIP ligand depletion, biased GLP-1 receptor agonism, and amylin receptor agonism in a single quarterly conjugate
Platform

First-in-Class Long-Acting Antibody Conjugation Platform

Three modular, independently validated and proprietary components — each a source of differentiation in its own right.

Novel, Optimized GIP Ligand-Binding Antibody (HCR-188)

First-in-class antibody targeting circulating GIP upstream of receptor interaction — acting on both peripheral and central obesity pathways. Phase 1 SAD study completed.

  • Five dose cohorts (50–800 mg), 40 subjects, 3:1 active:placebo
  • TEAE rate indistinguishable from placebo; no SAEs, no discontinuations
  • Demonstrated ligand engagement and durable pharmacodynamic effects from a single dose

Proprietary Antibody Conjugate Platform

Proprietary antibody and peptide engineering enables a highly stable antibody-peptide bond — designed to maximize intact conjugate exposures over extended dosing intervals.

  • Minimizes enzymatic cleavage and premature linker degradation, supporting sustained pharmacokinetic exposure across dosing intervals
  • Broad payload conjugation capabilities — optimized for Helicore peptides and compatible with partner payloads
  • Rapid iteration capability across payloads via multiple antibody and peptide engineering approaches

Proprietary Therapeutic Peptide Libraries

Two independent, proprietary peptide libraries engineered for potency, selectivity, and compatibility with long-acting antibody conjugates.

  • Biased GLP-1 Library: Preserves GLP-1R activation while reducing β-arrestin recruitment
  • Selective Amylin Library: Highly potent AMY1R/AMY3R profiles; CGRPR activity effectively absent
  • Both libraries deployable with antibodies and across multiple conjugate formats