Kailera launched in October 2024 with a $400 million Series A financing co-led by Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and RTW Investments, with participation from Lyra Capital. 

The company is developing several clinical-stage injectable and oral therapies that have demonstrated potential as best-in-class treatments for chronic weight management. Kailera acquired exclusive rights for global development and commercialization of a portfolio of four metabolic disease assets outside of greater China from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd (Hengrui), a leading global pharmaceutical company, in May 2024.

Kailera’s most advanced program, KAI-9531 (in development as HRS9531 in China) is an injectable GLP-1/GIP (glucagon-like peptide-1, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) receptor dual agonist that demonstrated compelling results in Phase II trials in obesity and type 2 diabetes in China.