Seamless Raises $25 Million in Seed Financing, Expands to U.S. to Advance Programmable Gene Editing Platform

Rare Daily Staff

German biotech Seamless Therapeutics closed a $25 million in seed financing to support the development of programmable recombinases focused on precise, large edits to target diseases of significant unmet medical need.

Seamless also announced the appointments of Albert Seymour as its new president and CEO and Adam Rosenberg as independent chairman of the board of directors. In addition, the company is establishing Seamless Therapeutics’ research and development activities in the United States, Seamless Tx, to focus on the translation of the differentiated recombinase technology from early discovery into the clinic.

Seymour, who previously served as chief scientific officer and then president and CEO of rare disease focused biotech Homology Medicines, will head U.S. operations while acting CEO and co-founder Anne-Kristin Heninger will remain in Germany as head of operations.

Seamless is translating major breakthroughs in programming recombinases, a class of enzymes that have been widely used in scientific research for decades, to transform their accuracy and flexibility enabling therapeutic gene editing. Seamless says its unique technology platform allows for site specific programmable recombinases that are engineered for specificity and activity to precisely excise, exchange, invert or insert DNA fragments in any target gene sequence. Early in vivo preclinical evidence has shown that Seamless’ programmable recombinases can precisely edit a 138 kilobase fragment through inversion.

Editing through this process is independent of the cell’s DNA repair pathway. This platform provides opportunities to address multiple disease-causing mutations with a single therapeutic as well as expand gene editing to non-dividing cell types.

Seed financing to date was led by Forbion and Wellington Partners to advance the proprietary technology. The Seamless team is currently focused on generating a pipeline of innovative product candidates that aim to treat human disease irrespective of the specific genetic alteration.

“Seamless Therapeutics is at the forefront of the next wave of innovation in gene editing with its unique platform and comprehensive toolbox capable of programming recombinases, said Albert Seymour, CEO of Seamless Therapeutics. “The platform technology coupled with the growth of our R&D team in Lexington provides the tools and expertise to precisely correct a range of DNA mutations at specific sites in the genome. Our goal is to continue to innovate and bring novel therapeutics forward for a range of disorders thereby addressing significant unmet medical needs.”

Photo: Albert Seymour, CEO of Seamless Therapeutics