Akribion Therapeutics, a Zwingenberg-based BioTech startup creating a RNA-guided, nuclease-based know-how for programmable cell depletion, immediately pronounces its exit from stealth and the completion of a Seed financing spherical elevating €8 million to speed up the event of therapeutics based mostly on Akribion’s proprietary G-dase® E nucleases.
The spherical was led by CARMA FUND and RV Make investments, with investments from MP Beteiligungs GmbH, Hessen Kapital I, Bruker Make investments and Excessive-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).
Lukas Linnig, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Akribion, says: “Akribion is unlocking a complete new class of therapeutic potentialities with our method. Our proprietary G-dase® E nucleases enable very particular depletion of sure subsets of cells based mostly on the presence of a predetermined RNA sequence. Whereas we’re initially targeted on advancing groundbreaking precision oncology therapies, we consider that this method to programmable cell depletion may have a lot wider software. I wish to thank our buyers for his or her dedication to Akribion and for his or her help in serving to us realise the potential of our know-how.”
Based in 2024, Akribion is led by Dr Michael Krohn and Lukas Linnig, Co-Founders and Co-CEO’s. Dr Adel Nada has additionally been appointed as board Chair to help the administration crew. Dr Nada is a biotech govt and multi-time Founder and operator. He’s presently a enterprise associate with Volnay Therapeutics, a cell and gene remedy investor and incubator based mostly within the US.
Akribion Therapeutics is creating a RNA-guided, nuclease-based know-how for programmable cell depletion. Its G-dase® E payload has the power to kill cells by shredding DNA and RNA, however provided that there’s a extremely particular match between the information RNA and an intracellular RNA sequence, making certain that solely the focused cells are affected, leaving wholesome cells unhurt.
The G-dase® E know-how was found by Dr. Paul Scholz and his crew at BRAIN Biotech AG, the specialist in biosolutions for industrial purposes, throughout Michael and Lukas’s tenure there. Dr. Scholz has additionally joined Akribion as Head of Analysis and Improvement.
Dr. Martin Raditsch, Common Accomplice, CARMA FUND provides: “Akribion’s distinctive know-how permits the creation of a brand new class of oncology therapeutics. We’re wanting ahead to working alongside this enthusiastic crew to develop new most cancers therapies with improved outcomes for sufferers on this prevalent and onerous to deal with indication.”
Initially concentrating on HPV-induced Oropharyngeal Head & Neck Most cancers (OPSCC), Akribion is exploring extra purposes in oncology, autoimmune ailments, fibrosis, and infectious ailments.
The pliability and broad potential of Akribion’s know-how makes it a promising platform for varied therapeutic areas, as by merely altering the information RNA, the know-how will be rapidly tailored to focus on completely different cells, making it a lot quicker to develop new therapies in comparison with conventional strategies.
Dr. Aleksei Zeifman, Funding Director, RV Make investments, feedback: “We’re thrilled to help Akribion’s entrepreneurial crew as they search to unlock the complete potential of their distinctive know-how. The excessive adaptability of the G-Dase® E platform makes it an ideal instrument to leverage our rising data of the genomic signatures of ailments throughout varied therapeutic areas.”
Dr. Katharina Severin, Funding Supervisor at HTGF, provides: “The robust crew at Akribion Therapeutics and their novel method to RNA-guided cell depletion pose nice potential to develop transformative therapeutic approaches. Whereas initially concentrating on most cancers, there may be additionally nice promise to adapt the versatile know-how for the longer term therapy of autoimmune ailments, infectious ailments, fibrosis, and past. We’re excited to be part of their journey!”
The present financing spherical is predicted to ship in vivo Proof of Idea of Akribion’s know-how.
