SalioGen Therapeutics Emerges from Stealth, Closes $20 Million Series A

Rare Daily Staff

SalioGen Therapeutics, which is developing a non-viral gene therapy platform, said it has closed a $20 million Series A financing as it emerged from stealth.

PBM Capital led the round, which included participation from other undisclosed investors.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the preclinical validation of the company’s proprietary Exact DNA Integration Technology (EDIT) platform for the development of durable, safe and affordable in vivo gene therapies, including initial data in SalioGen’s lead programs in familial hypercholesterolemia and inherited macular degeneration.

SalioGen is developing EDIT, a genome engineering technology based on the mammal-derived enzyme saliogase. The approach has broad applicability, the capability to deliver gene cargo of any size, and significant manufacturing advantages. 

EDIT is used to simultaneously deliver an RNA sequence that encodes saliogase with a DNA sequence of any length to cells of interest via lipid nanoparticles. Together, the transiently expressed saliogase seamlessly integrates the supplied DNA into a precise, defined location in the recipient genome without the need for homologous recombination.

SalioGen’s initial focus is on in vivo non-viral gene therapy, but the company said EDIT also has the potential to streamline cell therapy, cell engineering, and biologics manufacturing to help an even broader population of patients in need.

“We believe that SalioGen has identified an evolved approach to gene therapy that, grounded by the only mammal-derived genome engineering enzyme and unconstrained by the limits seen to date in the gene therapy space, should empower us to develop safe, lasting, and affordable non-viral gene therapies with the potential to cure genetic diseases unaddressed by current gene therapy and gene editing approaches,” said Ray Tabibiazar, CEO and chairman of SalioGen.

In conjunction with the financing, SalioGen has strengthened its board of directors and its scientific advisory board. Concurrent with the financing, Sean Stalfort, president of PBM Capital, will join SalioGen’s board of directors. The board will also include SalioGen CEO Tabibiazar, Saoliogen President and Chief Scientific Officer Joseph Higgins, and Jaguar Gene Therapy President of R&D Suku Nagendran.  

Photo: Ray Tabibiazar, CEO and chairman of SalioGen