Seed round led by Playground Global to focus on the advancement of
next-generation mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies and development of its
proprietary synthetic biology platform
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Strand
Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company specialized in developing
gene therapies powered by synthetic biology, announced today the
completion of a $6 million seed round led by Playground
Global with participation from Alexandria
Venture Investments, ANRI,
and a group of private investors.
The company will use the proceeds to make key hires at its headquarters
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, grow its pipeline of engineered gene
therapies, and further develop its synthetic biology platform.
“This capital will be instrumental to building out and scaling Strand’s
mRNA programming technology,” said Jacob Becraft, Ph.D., co-founder and
CEO at Strand Therapeutics. “This initial funding round will allow us to
expand our scientific team and push our lead immunotherapy programs
closer to realizing curative effects in patients,” added Tasuku Kitada,
Ph.D., co-founder and President at Strand Therapeutics.
Strand Therapeutics is building a platform based on technology developed
by biological engineers at MIT including scientific co-founders,
Professor Ron Weiss, Ph.D., a pioneer of the field of synthetic biology,
and Professor Darrell J. Irvine, Ph.D., a leading researcher of
materials for immune-engineering. The co-founders sought to apply
synthetic biology to the emerging field of mRNA therapeutics, building
on the long-standing idea of creating therapies that are capable of
making sophisticated decisions. The mRNA space was untapped by
traditional synthetic biology, which led them to build their own
“programming language,” creating the world’s first platform for smart
mRNA therapies.
“The ability of Strand’s tunable mRNA therapeutic platform to
dynamically respond to its microenvironment has exciting potential for
treating many devastating diseases,” said Chris Otey, Ph.D., MBA, Senior
Vice President, Science & Technology at Alexandria Venture Investments.
“At Alexandria, we are particularly excited about its initial use in
oncology where its programmability may allow it to kill tumors even as
they begin to develop resistance. We are excited to support and work
closely with the Strand team to ultimately bring highly impactful drugs
to patients.”
“At Playground, I am privileged to meet hundreds of brilliant
scientist-entrepreneurs addressing some of the world’s biggest
challenges,” said Jory Bell, Partner at Playground Global. “Strand
Therapeutics stands out as a uniquely ambitious and promising synthetic
biology platform with a rockstar founding team out of MIT. Strand’s
‘Verilog for biology’ will usher in an era of truly programmable
self-replicating therapeutic agents, initially targeting immuno-oncology
applications but extending into other disease indications as well. We’re
beyond excited to be partnering with such phenomenal entrepreneurs.”
About Playground Global
Playground Global is an early-stage venture capital firm with $850MM
under management. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Playground
invests in exceptional companies with the potential for
multi-generational impact.
About Alexandria Venture Investments
Alexandria Venture Investments, founded in 1996, is the strategic
venture capital arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE).
Alexandria Venture Investments focuses on novel, breakthrough
discoveries in biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, research tools, agtech,
and technology. Alexandria Venture Investments provides long-term
strategic investment capital to innovative life science and technology
entities developing breakthrough technologies and therapies aimed at
advancing human health by curing disease and improving nutrition. For
more information, please visit www.are.com/venture-investments.html
About ANRI
ANRI is a leading seed/early stage-focused investment firm based in
Tokyo, Japan. ANRI is committed to helping exceptional founders build
their next major companies. The firm invests in a wide range of
disruptive ideas and technologies from consumer service to
biotechnology. Founded in 2012, ANRI has funded more than 100 companies
including Raksul, UUUM, Mirrativ, hey and more. For more information,
please visit http://anri.vc/
About Strand Therapeutics
Strand Therapeutics is an early-stage biotechnology company genetically
programming revolutionary therapies to improve the lives of patients.
Through pioneering work developed at MIT, Strand is building the world’s
first smart mRNA therapeutics. Strand is expanding their
innovative and rapidly expanding team that understands the value of
working at a startup. Strand Therapeutics is a resident company of
Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, a premier life science incubator
program.
Contacts
Investors
Strand Therapeutics
Jacob Becraft
contact@strandtx.com
Media
KKH Advisors
Kimberly Ha
Kimberly.ha@kkhadvisors.com
917-291-5744