# Ligand Pharmaceuticals

> Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a VC fund backing Biotechnology and Medical. See 19 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: San Diego, United States
- Total investments: 19
- Last investment: Jul 2026
- Lead investor: 58%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ligand-pharmaceuticals
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/Ligand_LGND
- Website: http://www.ligand.com

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a VC fund in San Diego focused on Biotechnology and Medical. Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop medicines. Ligand business model creates value for stockholders by providing a diversified portfolio of biotech and pharmaceutical product revenue streams that are supported by an efficient and low corporatecost structure. Ligand's goal is to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the promise of the biotech industry in a profitable, diversified, and lower-risk business than a typical biotech company. Ligand business model is based on doing what we do best: drug discovery, early-stage drug development, product reformulation, and partnering. Ligand partner with other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do best (late-stage development, regulatory management, and commercialization) to ultimately generate Ligand revenue.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Ligand Pharmaceuticals. Shizune tracks 10 team members at Ligand Pharmaceuticals. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/ligand-pharmaceuticals?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Post-IPO Debt | $15M–$85M |
| Corporate Round | $3M–$10M |
| Post-IPO Equity | $15M–$90M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 9 | 47% |
| Medical | 7 | 37% |
| Health Care | 7 | 37% |
| Therapeutics | 6 | 32% |
| Medical Device | 3 | 16% |

9 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Post-IPO Debt | 4 | 21% |
| Corporate Round | 4 | 21% |
| Post-IPO Equity | 4 | 21% |
| Debt Financing | 2 | 11% |
| Series A | 1 | 5% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 9 | 47% |
| Austria | 1 | 5% |
| Denmark | 1 | 5% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bob Chen | Director, Systems Engineering and Site Head | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bob-chen-4a5d |
| David J. Mangelsdorf | Team Member | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-j-mangelsdorf |
| John Higgins | CEO | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-l-higgins |
| Richard Baxter | Senior Vice President of Investment Operations | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/richard-baxter-8ec4 |
| Todd C. Davis | Chief Executive Officer & Director | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/todd-c-davis |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Agenus | Agenus develops and commercializes immunotherapies and vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. The company's treatment aims to stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells. Its goal is to treat cancers with novel combinations utilizing its unique portfolio of checkpoint antibodies, tumor microenvironment modifiers,vaccines, and adjuvants. In addition to a broad portfolio, the company has an accomplished team of scientists, novel technology platforms, and fully-integrated end-to-end capabilities from discovery to GMP manufacturing.It was established in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. | $85M | Post-IPO Debt | Jul 13, 2026 |  |
| Zerion Pharma | Zerion Pharma is a pharmaceutical company that aims to transform the pharmaceutical landscape with a new formulation technology. The company is focused on improving existing drugs by building an internal pipeline to solve the most challenging drug solubility problems that pharmaceutical companies face. Zerion Pharma was founded in 2019 and isbased in Birkerød, Denmark. |  | Corporate Round | Jun 30, 2026 |  |
| Zerion Pharma | Zerion Pharma is a pharmaceutical company that aims to transform the pharmaceutical landscape with a new formulation technology. The company is focused on improving existing drugs by building an internal pipeline to solve the most challenging drug solubility problems that pharmaceutical companies face. Zerion Pharma was founded in 2019 and isbased in Birkerød, Denmark. |  | Debt Financing | Jun 30, 2026 |  |
| Orchestra BioMed | Orchestra BioMed, Inc. is a biomedical innovation company focused on developing high impact, high value, evidence-based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures that address major medical conditions. Its main focus is on developing new therapies for cardiovascular diseases which are the leading cause of death worldwide, taking the lives of 17.7million people each year, or 31% of all global deaths according to the World Health Organization.It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in New Hope, Pennsylvania. | $35M | Post-IPO Debt | May 06, 2026 |  |
| Athira Pharma | Athira Pharma is a clinical-stage drug development company striving to improve human health by advancing bold and innovative therapies with the potential to restore the lives of people impacted by brain disorders.Athira is derived from the word Athir, the energy that reaches everyone. It captures its mission to develop therapies that can reachand positively impact everyone. | $90M | Post-IPO Equity | Dec 18, 2025 |  |
| Pelthos Therapeutics (Formerly Channel Therapeutics) | Pelthos Therapeutics is a biotechnology firm specializing in life sciences of therapeutics and flavours. | $18M | Post-IPO Debt | Nov 07, 2025 |  |
| Orchestra BioMed | Orchestra BioMed, Inc. is a biomedical innovation company focused on developing high impact, high value, evidence-based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures that address major medical conditions. Its main focus is on developing new therapies for cardiovascular diseases which are the leading cause of death worldwide, taking the lives of 17.7million people each year, or 31% of all global deaths according to the World Health Organization.It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in New Hope, Pennsylvania. | $40M | Post-IPO Debt | Jul 31, 2025 |  |
| Orchestra BioMed | Orchestra BioMed, Inc. is a biomedical innovation company focused on developing high impact, high value, evidence-based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures that address major medical conditions. Its main focus is on developing new therapies for cardiovascular diseases which are the leading cause of death worldwide, taking the lives of 17.7million people each year, or 31% of all global deaths according to the World Health Organization.It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in New Hope, Pennsylvania. | $15M | Post-IPO Equity | Jul 31, 2025 |  |
| Pelthos Therapeutics (Formerly Channel Therapeutics) | Pelthos Therapeutics is a biotechnology firm specializing in life sciences of therapeutics and flavours. | $50M | Post-IPO Equity | Apr 17, 2025 |  |
| Palvella Therapeutics | Palvella Therapeutics is a start-up life sciences company that focuses on relentlessly and selflessly serving abandoned patient populations with therapies. The company specializes in developing therapies that specifically target the root cause of the disease. Palvella Therapeutics was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania. |  | Post-IPO Equity | Dec 13, 2024 |  |

10 of 19 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Medtronic](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/medtronic) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [ADAR1 Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/adar1-capital-management) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [BioAdvance](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bioadvance) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Biotechnology Value Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/biotechnology-value-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [CAM Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/camcapital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Commodore Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/commodore-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Ligand Pharmaceuticals invest in?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals invests primarily in Biotechnology, Medical and Health Care startups, most often at Post-IPO Debt and Corporate Round stage. Most of the 19 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Ligand Pharmaceuticals's check size?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals typically joins rounds of $15M–$85M at Post-IPO Debt, $3M–$10M at Corporate Round and $15M–$90M at Post-IPO Equity. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Ligand Pharmaceuticals participates in.

### How do I contact Ligand Pharmaceuticals?

Public channels for Ligand Pharmaceuticals include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Ligand Pharmaceuticals?

The team at Ligand Pharmaceuticals includes Bob Chen (Director, Systems Engineering and Site Head), David J. Mangelsdorf (Team Member) and John Higgins (CEO), among 10 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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