Pharmaceutical Business review

Synthego raises $200m to accelerate discoveries of new therapeutics

Synthego intends to use the funds to speed up the discovery of new therapies for serious diseases. Credit: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.

Led by Perceptive Advisors, the financing round has seen participation from existing investors RA Capital Management, Wellington Management, and Moore Strategic Ventures.

The new investors include Declaration Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Logos Capital, Laurion Capital Management, GigaFund and Chimera Abu Dhabi.

Synthego intends to use the funds to speed up the cell and gene therapy discovery and development ecosystem to simplify the new discoveries’ translation into new therapies for serious diseases.

The company also plans to expand its capabilities and capacity of Eclipse and Halo platforms for the research and discovery applications.

This will help to drive extensive access of genome engineering tools and genome engineered cells.

Synthego co-founder and CEO Paul Dabrowski said: “CRISPR has become a powerful discovery tool, and the field is now at an inflection point. The promise of translating insights into clinical applications to treat a myriad of serious diseases, including cancer and genetic disorders, is within reach.

“With Synthego’s full stack of proprietary platforms, clinical-grade manufacturing capabilities, and strong relationships in industry, academia and the investor community, we are well positioned to help our customers usher in this new era of genetic and cellular medicines, ultimately ensuring these therapies are accessible to all patients.”

Additionally, the company plans to invest in next-generation technologies including a light-based system for specific and precise CRISPR editing, CRISPROff.

To support the clinical and therapeutic programmes of customers, Synthego will also increase its good manufacturing practice (GMP) manufacturing capabilities.