RARE Daily

Shape Therapeutics Raises $112 Million to Advance RNA Technology Platforms

July 15, 2021

Shape Therapeutics said it completed a $112 million series B financing round to advance its RNA technology platforms.

Photo: Francois Vigneault, co-founder and CEO of Shape Therapeutics

Decheng Capital and Breton Capital led the round with participation from Willett Advisors. Existing investors New Enterprise Associates, and Mission BioCapital also participated in the round.

Min Cui, founder and managing director at Decheng Capital, joined the Shape Therapeutics board of directors and Josef von Rickenbach, founder and former CEO of Parexel, joined as a board observer on behalf of Breton Capital.

The company said it will use this new investment to continue building its growing portfolio of RNA technologies into broad industry verticals, while accelerating the development of groundbreaking treatment approaches for patients by prioritizing key partnership opportunities.

“We have witnessed the power of mRNA in the vaccine space and are now entering a new era where we can apply next-generation RNA technologies to potentially prevent or treat complex diseases across a wide range of therapeutic areas, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and Rett syndrome,” said Francois Vigneault, co-founder and CEO of Shape Therapeutics.

Shape Therapeutics has developed a suite of technology platforms that broadly enable RNA targeting, RNA editing and RNA replacement for patients suffering from genetic disorders with high unmet need. As a breakthrough in RNA delivery, the company also recently presented the discovery of next-generation adeno associated viruses that are central nervous system- or muscle-specific in non-human primates.

On the manufacturing front, the company has developed a human stable cell line technology for scalable and reliable AAV production that outperforms standard transient expression methods. Shape Therapeutic’s vision is to facilitate adoption of these technologies throughout the industry to develop effective treatments for as many patients as possible.

Author: Rare Daily Staff

Stay Connected

Sign up for updates straight to your inbox.

FacebookTwitterInstagramYoutube