Biotech startup, CyGenica secures USD $1.4 million funding from SOSV

New Delhi: Pune based biotech startup, CyGenica has raised USD $1.4 million in a seed fund investment round, led by global venture capital investor SOSV. The funding round will accelerate validation of CyGenica’s proprietary technology which enables safe, targeted and affordable intercellular drug delivery.

CyGenica’s disruptive technology addresses the problem of delivering large-molecule therapeutics into living cells without damaging them or triggering an adverse immune response.

The current investment seed round of USD 1.4 million was led by venture capital investor SOSV. Other investors participating in the round included the VOYAGER Health-Tech fund, David Rowan, founder of Voyagers.io and angel investors Sharaf Yamani and Sami Mikati.

CyGenica intends to utilize the investment to accelerate the development of its disruptive drug delivery technology for genome editing, seeking to be a key partner of biopharmaceutical companies in the advancement of cutting-edge therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases to improve patient’s health and quality of life.

Talking about the latest development Dr Nusrat Sanghamitra, Co-founder and CEO of CyGenica said:

“The challenge of delivering drugs for cancer and genetic therapies, be it genes/RNAs/CRISPRs across cell membranes without damaging the cells and triggering an adverse immune response remains a complex hurdle in the pharmaceutical industry. Our groundbreaking technology functions like a universal USB drive. It acts as a nanomachine which can deliver multitudes of cargoes carrying molecular information such as drugs and genetic therapeutics in an efficient, targeted manner without any toxicity and minimum immunogenicity. This will revolutionize drug delivery and lead to better patient outcomes.”

Nusrat further emphasized “This current financing round has brought a diversified international network on board. This will help de-risk our technology, expand our leadership team and take us significantly closer to our goal of enabling safe and targeted intracellular delivery of genetic therapies for cancer and rare diseases.”

Bill Liao, Partner SOSV explained “I am delighted to be leading this investment because CyGenica has solved one of the most pressing problems in biotech: delivery. We are incredibly excited to be part of this revolution.”

David Rowan, Founder of Voyagers.io said “Life-changing health-care innovation isn’t only coming out of the established life-science hubs. The VOYAGERS Health-Tech Fund is particularly excited to support CyGenica, a remarkable company born in Odisha, India, with the potential to transform targeted drug delivery without the normal side effects that cancer and other patients have had to bear. The VOYAGERS community will do all we can to support Dr Nusrat Sanghamitra and her team in their important mission.”

Sami Mikati, a life sciences angel investor, said: “Nusrat is solving for one of the most valuable problems in therapeutics today. Her approach is completely novel, which is a reflection of her interdisciplinary background.”