Cambridge, UK:
ViaNautis Bio (“ViaNautis), a groundbreaking biotechnology company at the forefront of delivering targeted genetic nanomedicines and an o2h Ventures portfolio company, announced a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”) to advance the development of genetic nanomedicines. This collaboration marks a pivotal milestone for ViaNautis in advancing its proprietary polyNaut® platform to offer groundbreaking solutions for patients with critical unmet needs.
In November 2023, ViaNautis secured a $25 million Series A financing round, with Eli Lilly participating as an investor. ViaNautis’ proprietary polyNaut® nanovesicle platform uses advanced polymer materials and machine learning targeting tissues, enabling the potential to revolutionise treatments for severe, unmet medical needs. The company is focused on delivery to the brain, CNS, lung, and other hard-to-reach areas of the body.
o2h Ventures initially backed ViaNautis in its preseed round in 2019, providing early support to help drive its pioneering technology forward and then with additional follow-on funding from o2h Ventures in 2023.
Dr Francesca Crawford, Co-founder of ViaNautis, commented:
“This collaboration with Lilly is a testament to our polyNaut® platform, which is also driving a highly differentiated emerging pipeline for severe life-limiting diseases. Combining our scientific know-how to precisely deliver genetic nanomedicines targeting difficult-to-reach sites, with Lilly’s extensive drug development and commercialization expertise will accelerate the creation of novel therapies to improve patient outcomes.”
Dr Adi Hoess, CEO of ViaNautis, added:
“This strategic collaboration with Lilly marks an exciting milestone for ViaNautis as we work to unlock the full potential of our polyNaut® platform. With support from early investors like o2h Ventures, we’re committed to advancing targeted genetic therapies that can address critical medical needs and transform patient care. We look forward to the impact this collaboration will have in the field of genetic medicine.”
Sunil Shah, CEO of o2h Ventures, stated:
“We are excited to see this game-changing collaboration with Eli Lilly from which ViaNautis. Our investment hypothesis has been to invest early in companies that have the potential to collaborate with big pharma, and it’s satisfying to see ViaNautis fulfil this. Congratulations to the ViaNautis Team.”
**ENDS**
About ViaNautis
ViaNautis, was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from UCL. The company’s core mission is to exploit the unique capabilities of the revolutionary polyNaut® technology.
PolyNaut® is a versatile nano-engineered polymer technology designed for targeted intracellular delivery. This innovative technology enables polymer nanoparticles to deliver a wide range of payloads from small molecules to genetic materials creating ‘a bionic nanoparticle.’ The highly adaptable polymer structure of polyNaut® can be formulated to encapsulate a wide array of genetic cargoes, with sizes exceeding current standards for viral and non-viral delivery. Notably, it enables therapeutic efficacy of encapsulated molecules through direct delivery to the cell cytoplasm, facilitated by GOTO® technology for intracellular shuttling.
PolyNaut® is set apart from conventional non-viral delivery technologies through its remarkable ability to target specific cells and penetrate biological barriers, including the challenging blood-brain barrier. PolyNaut® nanoparticles, when functionalised for CNS delivery through transcytosis, exhibit exceptional brain uptake.
Deploying its state-of-the-art polyNaut® platform, ViaNautis is at the forefront of pioneering new therapies for CNS diseases and cystic fibrosis. The company is actively building an internal pipeline and collaborating with leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies to unlock the potential of promising genetic molecules as well as new therapeutic platforms.
For more information, connect with us on https://www.linkedin.com/company/vianautis/ and visit www.vianautis.com.
About o2h Ventures
The o2h Ventures ‘Human Health’ SEIS and EIS funds make tax-efficient investments in Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies that address human disease: we fund the development of novel therapeutic treatments; we help build new services and tools offerings throughout the biotech ecosystem, and we spur the creation of software & artificial intelligence that will change healthcare.
The o2h team are leaders in the biotech community and have been actively involved as investors, holding various board/industry positions as well as being engaged in grassroots scientific activity for over 20 years. o2h Ventures operates from their proprietary 2.7 acre Mill SciTech Park where they are developing a unique model for incubating small life science companies.
For more information or to invest in the fund, please visit www.o2hventures.com
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