Vesigen Therapeutics Files for IPO Following $28.5M Series A Led by Leaps by Bayer and Morningside Ventures

Vesigen Therapeutics was founded on July 22, 2002, with the aim of leveraging proprietary delivery technologies to overcome barriers in the targeted intracellular delivery of next-generation therapies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, RNA molecules, and other therapeutic proteins. Leaps by Bayer and Morningside Venture Capital led the company’s $28.5 million Series A financing round, with participation from Linden Lake Ventures and Alexandria Venture Investments.

Novel modalities, including gene editing, mRNA replacement, and RNA interference, hold immense potential for future therapies and even curative treatments. However, delivering these modalities to disease targets within specific cells and tissues has proven challenging. With more than 80% of confirmed and biologically validated drug targets located inside human cells, there is an urgent need for innovative intracellular delivery technologies to transport these molecules to their targets and fully unlock the potential of new therapeutic modalities. Vesigen is developing a novel delivery technology to address this challenge, paving the way for revolutionary treatment options for patients.

Robert Millman, Co-founder and CEO of Vesigen Therapeutics, stated, “Our mission is to unlock the therapeutic potential of numerous novel modalities, such as RNA interference, mRNA replacement, and gene editing. While these new modalities have been employed to identify and validate targets, challenges in delivery have hindered their translation into effective therapies.”

Vesigen is developing drugs based on its proprietary ARRDC1-mediated microvesicle (ARMMs) technology. ARMMs are a class of fusogenic extracellular vesicles that have naturally evolved to package and deliver communication signals between cells and tissues. ARMMs possess unique properties that make them better suited for the production and delivery of therapeutic agents. Vesigen and its scientific founders have demonstrated that a wide range of therapeutic payloads, including RNA, proteins, and gene-editing systems, can be packaged into ARMMs and functionally delivered intracellularly both in vitro and in vivo.

Dr. Juergen Eckhardt, Head of the Bayer Leap Program, stated, “The Bayer Leap Program is continuously investing in transformative biotechnologies with the potential to shift the paradigm from treatment to cure. We believe that Vesigen’s ARMMs technology has the potential to achieve this goal, helping to bring new curative options to numerous disease areas.”

Dr. Gerald Chan of Morningside Venture Capital said, “Vesigen’s engineered extracellular vesicles demonstrate versatility, and we will support their development for a wide range of indications, including oncology, neurology, ophthalmology, and other localized applications. We look forward to seeing their work translated into clinical applications.”

Vesigen will leverage the funds raised to build its ARMMs platform and advance numerous therapeutic agents into preclinical and clinical development. Through this financing round, Vesigen has appointed Lezong Chen from Morningside Venture Capital as Chairman of the Board. Additionally, Stephen Bruso from Morningside Venture Capital, along with Juergen Eckhardt and Jak Knowles from the Bayer G4A program, have been appointed as board members.

The company’s Scientific Advisory Board will include:

· Dr. Quan Lu, Co-Scientific Founder of Vesigen Therapeutics

· Dr. Stephen Haggarty, Massachusetts General Hospital (Massachusetts General Hospital, USA)

· Dr. Thomas Reh, University of Washington

Dr. Quan Lu, Professor of Environmental Genetics and Physiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, stated, “We have engineered the ARMMs system to serve as a platform capable of delivering specific agents to targeted tissues or cells—a field that has been extensively researched and explored for many years. I hope our work will lead to new life-saving therapies.”

Bayer’s Leaps program, as a subsidiary of Bayer, is responsible for spearheading high-impact investment projects that fund solutions to address the most significant challenges in health and agriculture today. Its portfolio comprises more than 30 companies dedicated to developing potentially breakthrough technologies to overcome specific challenges, such as restoring lost tissue function, reducing the environmental impact of farming, and preventing or curing cancer.

Vesigen Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to advancing breakthrough therapies for intracellular targets by leveraging its fused extracellular vesicle delivery technology. This proprietary technology, known as ARMMs (ARRDC1-mediated microvesicles), enables the direct delivery of diverse payloads—including RNA (mRNA, shRNA, ribozymes), proteins (signaling proteins, enzymes, antibody fragments), and gene-editing complexes (Cas9/gRNA)—into the cytoplasm of target cells, thereby expanding the range of druggable targets. The team is committed to developing transformative medicines using ARMMs technology to address current unmet medical needs.

ARMMs (ARRDC1-Mediated Microvesicles) are a class of cell-derived fusogenic extracellular vesicles that package and transmit intercellular and inter-tissue communication signals. The cellular machinery underlying ARMM formation is hijacked by many enveloped viruses, such as HIV and Ebola virus, to generate viral envelopes with specific targeting properties that bud from host cells. ARMMs possess unique characteristics not found in other classes of extracellular vesicles (such as exosomes), making them more suitable for the production of therapeutic agents. It has been demonstrated that numerous unstable and difficult-to-deliver therapeutics—including RNA (mRNA, shRNA, ribozymes), proteins (signaling proteins, enzymes, antibody fragments), and gene-editing complexes (Cas9/gRNA)—can be packaged into ARMMs for functional intracellular delivery both in vitro and in vivo. With strong support from the Harvard Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, the laboratory of Dr. Quan Lu, Professor of Environmental Genetics and Physiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discovered ARMMs and engineered them into a drug delivery system. Through an exclusive licensing agreement with Harvard University, Vesigen will continue to advance the ARMMs platform to develop innovative medicines for patients.