Sept 16 (Reuters) - San Francisco-based biotech Dualitas

Therapeutics said on Tuesday it has launched a $65 million

early-stage funding round, and plans to use the proceeds to

develop next-generation therapies for immunity-related diseases.

The series A funding round will be co-led by Versant

Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners USA, with pharmaceutical

major Eli Lilly ( LLY ) also participating, Dualitas said.

The company did not disclose its valuation in the

funding round.

Dualitas, founded in 2023, joins companies such as

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN ), Amgen ( AMGN ) and Roche

that are developing drugs from a class called bispecific

antibody.

This type of therapy simultaneously binds to two different

molecules in a patients' immune system, compared with

traditional monoclonal antibodies that have only one target.

Dualitas will use the proceeds to advance its two lead

candidates, DTX-103 for asthma and DTX-102 for rheumatoid

arthritis.

Both therapies have shown promising data in early studies

when compared with approved treatments, Dualitas said, adding

that it will look for a partner to further develop one of the

candidates.

"We actually think both of them look extremely compelling

based on the data sets," Forbes Huang, co-founder and chief

operating officer of Dualitas, told Reuters in an interview.

The company said it will also use the funds to further

develop its proprietary drug discovery platform, DualScreen, to

expand its pipeline into broader therapeutic areas, including

cancer and rare diseases.

The funding round also included founding investor SV Health

Investors and new strategic backers such as Chugai Venture Fund

and Alexandria Venture Investments.