Milan-based biotech Aptadir Therapeutics said it has raised a $45m seed round, one of the largest seed investments by an Italian health startup and among Europe’s biggest early-stage funding rounds.
The round was led by 4BIO Capital, the London-based life sciences venture firm, with participation from Aptadir’s pre-seed investor Extend, Italy’s national technology transfer hub for biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Other investors include CDP Venture Capital, XGEN Venture and CE-Ventures.
Aptadir, which is at the preclinical stage, is developing a novel class of RNA inhibitors used to silence defective genes to treat genetic conditions and underserved cancers. The company says its technology is based on findings from an international group of scientists working in RNA and DNA biology, genetic disorders, leukaemia and immunotherapeutics, and is initially developing a treatment for Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, learning difficulties and developmental delays.
The funds will be used to advance its pipeline of therapeutics.
Aptadir Therapeutics’ DiRs technology and pipeline
Giovanni Amabile, founder and CEO, said: “The magnitude of this seed round reflects the exciting potential of our DiRs technology and the quality of a truly international scientific team. With the backing of our investors, we now have the opportunity to develop a pipeline of drug candidates with the potential to restore genetic pathways that, for decades, have been considered irreversibly silenced.”
