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Looking to Overcome Limitations in Gene Therapy Space, PBM Capital Backed Startup Launches with $20 M in Series A
SalioGen Therapeutics, a Burlington-based biotech startup, announced on March 1st that it had closed its $20 million Series A financing round. The funds will support preclinical validation of mammal-derived enzyme saliogase in the making of in vivo gene therapies for diseases such as familial hypercholesterolemia and inherited macular degeneration and also help build their proprietary Exact DNA Integration Technology (EDIT) platform.
“We are thrilled to introduce SalioGen and the EDIT genome engineering platform, backed by the confidence of investors with an excellent track record and enthusiasm for potential breakthrough technologies,” said Ray Tabibiazar, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of SalioGen.
He further added, “We believe that SalioGen has identified an evolved approach to gene therapy that, grounded by the only mammal-derived genome engineering enzyme and unconstrained by the limits seen to date in the gene therapy space, should empower us to develop safe, lasting, and affordable non-viral gene therapies with the potential to cure genetic diseases unaddressed by current gene therapy and gene editing approaches. We are grateful not only to have the support of such esteemed investors but also to have assembled such a prestigious group of directors, scientific advisors, and collaborators.”
The financing round was led by PBM Capital, a healthcare-focused investment firm, and included other unidentified investors. AveXis, one of the first biotech companies that popped up in the field of gene therapy in 2018 and bought by Novartis in an $8.7 billion deal, was also funded by PBM. Ever since, PBM has made bold moves by investing in several startups working on gene therapy, including but not limited to Kriya Therapeutics and Lexeo Therapeutics.
Exact DNA Integration Technology (EDIT)
Current gene therapies are mostly based on viral vectors, which suffer major limitations, including cloning capacity, generation of neutralizing antibodies, among many others. These limitations prove to be a hindrance to diseases that are treatable using gene therapy.
SalioGen, among many other biotech companies are focusing its energy on overcoming these limitations, thus making gene therapy available to a larger cohort of patients. Their approach is based on saliogase, which has the potential to integrate gene sequences of any length at any exact location. The company’s proprietary platform uses RNA encoding saliogase alongside a DNA sequence and delivers them using lipid nanoparticles.
Path Forward
Previously, multiple companies have used gene therapy to combat familial hypercholesterolemia but have met with failure. The closest was Regenxbio, who took one of their potential candidates to clinics in 2016 but sadly had to withdraw last year. While gene therapy has seen success in treating eye diseases, there remains a void when it comes to inherited macular degeneration.
If SalioGen intends to succeed in the field of gene therapy, it needs to expand its horizon by focusing on other disease areas. The company remains optimistic by noting that its ability to deliver genes of any size and its manufacturing advantages might make it easier on their part to come up with a possible cure for several diseases.
Related Article: Jaguar Launches with a Pre-clinical Pipeline of AAV9-Based Gene Therapies
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