CyGenica has raised $1.4 m in a seed fund investment round, led by global venture capital investor SOSV. The funding round will accelerate validation of the company’s technology, designed to enable safe, targeted and affordable intercellular drug delivery.
The technology is aimed to address the problem of delivering large-molecule therapeutics into living cells without damaging them or triggering an adverse immune response.
Other investors participating in the round included the VOYAGER Health-Tech fund, David Rowan, founder of Voyagers.io and angel investors Sharaf Yamani and Sami Mikati.
CyGenica intends to use the investment to accelerate the development of its drug delivery technology for genome editing, seeking to be a partner of biopharmaceutical companies in the advancement of therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases.
Dr Nusrat Sanghamitra, co-founder and CEO of CyGenica said: “The challenge of delivering drugs for cancer and genetic therapies, be it genes/RNAs/CRISPRs across cell membranes without damaging the cells and triggering an adverse immune response remains a complex hurdle in the pharmaceutical industry. Our ground-breaking technology functions like a universal USB drive. It acts as a nanomachine which can deliver multitudes of cargoes carrying molecular information such as drugs and genetic therapeutics in an efficient, targeted manner without any toxicity and minimum immunogenicity. This will revolutionize drug delivery and lead to better patient outcomes.”
Bill Liao, Partner SOSV explained “I am delighted to be leading this investment because CyGenica has solved one of the most pressing problems in biotech: delivery. We are incredibly excited to be part of this revolution.”
Sami Mikati, a life sciences angel investor, said: “Nusrat is solving for one of the most valuable problems in therapeutics today. Her approach is completely novel, which is a reflection of her interdisciplinary background.”
