At the heart of the newco is the knowledge that messenger RNA can be subjected to a variety of post-transcriptional modifications that markedly influence their fate and function particularly when it comes to health and disease. Seeded initially with money from Versant Ventures, a team at Cornell University, led by professor Samie Jaffrey, has secured $54m in a Series A round to develop drugs that target key mRNA modulating proteins.
Gotham Therapeutics Raises $54M Series A To Target RNA-Modifying Proteins
Versant Ventures seed company Gotham Therapeutics emerges from stealth mode to develop novel class of drugs targeting RNA-modifying proteins with backing from co-leads Versant, Forbion and SR One.
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Public Company Edition: Stock valuations are falling due to political, economic and regulatory uncertainty, resulting in fewer large public offerings, more alternative financings and cost cuts. Carisma, Tenaya, BioAtla, Arbutus, Nkarta, Alector and Adaptimmune announced layoffs.
CEO Kris Elverum told Scrip about the start-up’s platform for editing RNA to correct genetic variants that cause harm and to reproduce healthy variants as a means of treating disease.
The four-year-old firm said it plans to advance programs toward the clinic from the funding round, which comes just over a year after signing two major pharma partnerships.
Private Company Edition: The latest group of drug developers to announce venture capital financings is remarkable for its geographic diversity, from Character Biosciences’ $93m series B round in the US to Augustine’s $85m series B in Belgium to a $29.2m series C for Aculys in Japan.
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