The Sino-American company applies its proprietary uSMITE (ubiquitin-mediated, small molecule - induced target elimination) platform to expand the drug design paradigm beyond functional site inhibition, enabling the targeting of historically undruggable proteins for selective destruction.

In June 2023, Cullgen entered a research collaboration and exclusive option agreement with Japanese drug major Astellas Pharma to discover multiple innovative protein degraders.

The two companies aim to develop multiple targeted protein degraders by combining Cullgen's proprietary uSMITE targeted protein degradation platform featuring novel E3 ligands with Astellas' drug discovery capabilities.