Novartis AG is deepening its commitment to kidney disease by teaming up with Versant Ventures to create Borealis Biosciences, which will use its $150m series A funding round from the two to develop RNA-based drugs in renal diseases.
Borealis Seeks Aurora In RNA-Based Drugs For Renal Disease
With $150m in series A funding, the Versant- and Novartis-backed start-up is betting it can overcome the challenges to getting RNA medicines into the kidney.

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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.
Kyoto-based venture moves HQ to California to expand R&D and business outreach for its regulatory T-cell technology, as it raises around $46m in public and private funding.
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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.
Pharma executives and investors are waiting with bated breath to find out if President Trump will include drugs in a new round of tariffs to be announced on 2 April.
After failing a Phase II monotherapy study in early Parkinson’s, Cerevance will focus on adjunctive therapy without abandoning the monotherapy concept.