On November 13, in Cambridge, UK, ViaNautis Bio, a pioneering nanomedicine company at the forefront of gene therapy, announced the completion of a $25 million Series A financing round. Formerly known as SomaServe, ViaNautis received backing from a consortium of renowned global investors to advance the development of its proprietary drug delivery platform, polyNaut®.
The Series A financing was led by 4BIO Capital, BGF, and UCB Ventures, with participation from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Eli Lilly and Company, and existing investors such as Origin Capital, Meltwind, and O2H. The proceeds from this round will accelerate the development of products using the polyNaut® platform, expand the scientific and management teams, and establish state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.
ViaNautis Bio's polyNaut® Platform Utilizes Advanced Polymer Materials and Computational Screening to Precisely Deliver Genetic Molecules Such as pDNA, mRNA, siRNA, and ASOs to Their Intended Targets. Unlike Traditional Drug Delivery Methods, polyNaut® Addresses the Challenge of Delivering Genetic Material Across Biological Barriers, Offering Therapeutics for Diseases with Urgent Unmet Clinical Needs, Such as Cystic Fibrosis (a Multi-System Disease Affecting the Lungs, Pancreas, and Other Organs) and Central Nervous System (CNS) Disorders. The Company’s Pipeline Includes VNS002, Supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Focused on Identifying the Optimal Formulation for Targeted Delivery to the Conducting Airways of the Lungs.
PolyNaut® is a versatile nanoengineered polymer technology designed for intracellular targeted delivery. This innovative technology enables polymer nanoparticles to deliver a wide range of payloads, from small molecules to genetic materials, creating "biomimetic nanoparticles." The highly adaptable polymer structure of PolyNaut® can be formulated to encapsulate a broad spectrum of genetic cargoes, with sizes surpassing current standards for both viral and non-viral delivery. Notably, driven by the GOTO® intracellular delivery technology, it enhances the therapeutic efficacy of the encapsulated molecules through direct delivery into the cytoplasm.
ViaNautis Bio Ltd. was spun out from University College London in 2018 by co-founders Dr. Francesca Crawford, Dr. Denis Cecchin, and Professor Giuseppe Battaglia, the inventor of polyNaut® and Honorary Professor at University College London. Professor Battaglia is also an ICREA Professor and head of the Molecular Bionics Group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), which is part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).Follow the official account below to explore the world with you!
