Shattuck Labs, a Dallas-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, has caught the attention of Japanese drug developer Ono Pharmaceutical, which has expressed plans to invest $227 million in the startup.

Since 2016, Shattuck Labs’ has focused its research on fusion proteins, which are mainly used in the: (1) purification of cloned genes, (2) the reporting of gene expression level, and (3) histochemical tagging for locating proteins in cells, tissues or organisms, according to the ScienceDirect medical website.

With the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as the primary agenda, Shattuck has produced ARC (Agonist Redirected Checkpoint) platform technology in only 18 months. It currently has two product candidates in global clinical trials with the hopes of a medical breakthrough that can contribute to a cure for cancer.

“We hope to add bifunctional fusion proteins discovered and developed by Shattuck into our portfolio to bring innovative drugs for patients suffering from autoimmune and inflammatory diseases as soon as possible,” said Ono Pharmaceutical Senior Managing Executive Officer Toichi Takino PhD.