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tRNA Startup Clinches $24 Million from ARCH, Takeda and 8VC to Fix Protein Mutations
tRNA-based medicine is distinct from genetic approaches, as they do not change DNA or mRNA transcripts. And unlike the personalized nature of genetic medicine, tRNA is more generalized.
Startup hC Bioscience has raised $24 million in Series A financing to engineer transfer RNAs (tRNA) that they claim could address thousands of diseases regardless of genes or mutations.
The Series A was led by ARCH Venture, Takeda Ventures and 8VC.
hC Bio spun out from the University of Iowa in 2021 when Leslie J. Williams, CEO of the company, and Christopher Ahern, a professor from the university decided to further the foundational research they laid out in Ahern’s lab.
Alongside the funding round, hC Bio has appointed biotech veteran David Altreuter as chief technology officer. Altreuter brings experience from serving in Lyndra Therapeutics, Acusphere, Alnylam, Selecta Biosciences and Quiet Therapeutics.
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Treating Mutations with tRNA
hC Bio is developing two complementary platforms that address nonsense mutations and missense mutations respectively.
Nonsense mutations are changes to a part of the DNA that create premature “stop” codons. They essentially shut down the translation process early, creating an incomplete and dysfunctional protein. 10-15% of all human disease may be caused by nonsense mutations.
The first platform, which hC Bio calls PTCX (“Patch”) aims to restore protein function caused by nonsense mutations. It does so by using engineered tRNA to recognize nonsense mutations in mRNA transcripts and insert amino acids where they are needed to restore the full length of the protein.
The second platform, called SWTX (“Switch”) targets missense mutations, where mistakes in the DNA make it encode for the wrong amino acid. hC Bio hopes that their tRNAs will deliver the right amino acid to the polypeptide sequence, gloss over the mutation and reduce the severity of the disease.
“We are creating medicines to restore protein function to its intended state without editing genes,” said Williams. “A single tRNA therapy has the potential to treat many diseases regardless of the gene or location of the mutation.”
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tRNA Companies
hC Bio is not alone in its pursuit of tRNA therapies.
Alltrna launched last November with $50 million from its parent company Flagship Pioneering, the firm that founded Moderna and many other companies in the health sector.
Another biotech called Tevard Biosciences is developing a tRNA therapy for Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. The firm is also pursuing other central nervous system indications.
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