Gennao Bio Closes $40 Million in Financing to Develop Pipeline of Targeted Nucleic Acid Therapeutics

Gennao Bio, a genetic medicines company, raised $40 million in a series A financing to develop first-in-class, targeted nucleic acid therapeutics.

Photo: Stephen Squinto, Gennao Bio chairman and CEO

OrbiMed and Logos Capital co-led the financing, with participation by Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company). Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the advancement of its proprietary, first-in-class gene monoclonal antibody platform (GMAB), exclusively licensed from Yale University, and the development of targeted nucleic acid therapeutic product candidates for the treatment of oncology and rare monogenic skeletal muscle diseases.

Gennao Bio was co-founded in 2020 by Peter Glazer, Elias Quijano, Stephen Squinto, and Bruce Turner. Squinto will serve as the company’s newly appointed chief executive officer and chair of the board, effective immediately. Squinto, a co-founder of rare disease powerhouse Alexion, is a life sciences industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience and a proven track record of building value at companies, including Passage Bio, SpringWorks Therapeutics, Alexion, and Regeneron.

“GMAB is the only platform technology that can deliver multiple classes of nucleic acids, allowing us to develop targeted, cell penetrating therapeutics for a wide-range of genetic diseases,” said Squinto. “The capital raised in this series A round will enable us to accelerate our research and development efforts and expand our team.”

As part of the financing, Chau Khuong, a partner on the private equity team at OrbiMed, has been appointed to Gennao Bio’s board of directors.

Gennao Bio’s GMAB platform is an adaptive technology that uses a novel, cell-penetrating antibody to non-covalently bind to and deliver therapeutic levels of a wide variety of nucleic acid payloads to select cells. This non-viral delivery platform is differentiated from traditional gene delivery systems as it can deliver multiple types of nucleic acids, allows for repeat dosing, and employs well-established manufacturing processes.

Author: Rare Daily Staff