Nutcracker Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on RNA therapeutics, has raised $167m in a Series C financing round, led by ARCH Venture Partners.
The company intends to use the funding to expand its portfolio of mRNA therapies, and advance its biochip-based RNA manufacturing platform technology.
In conjunction with the financing, Nutcracker has appointed Paratek Pharmaceuticals executive board chairman Michael Bigham to its board of directors.
Bigham added: “RNA has unique qualities as a therapeutic modality and could prove to be a first-line tool for many diseases. Nutcracker Therapeutics is well-positioned to develop RNA therapeutics in a scalable and efficient manner with its innovative platform.
“I’m excited to be a part of the team and help further its goal of advancing its pipeline into the clinic and bringing RNA therapies to patients with the greatest need.”
The company claimed that its RNA manufacturing platform is at the core of its therapeutic effort and combines RNA biochemistry with microfluidic engineering.
It also includes semiconductor-like biochips, and a nanoparticle delivery technology to build a fully automated and isolated manufacturing pathway.
The platform is said to support the development of RNA therapeutics, from discovery to the clinic and commercialisation, scaling up at each stage.
In addition, the platform enables rapid discovery, development, and manufacturing of the RNA therapeutics at scale, said the biotech company.
Nutcracker Therapeutics combines the power of advanced engineering with high-precision biosynthesis to deploy a complete RNA therapeutics platform.
Its platform is capable of advancing the development of RNA therapeutics to advance breakthrough RNA therapies across a variety of indications.
Nutcracker Therapeutics co-founder and CEO Igor Khandros said: “The recent success of the mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 has brought newfound energy around the use of RNA as a therapeutic tool.
“As a consequence, we have an unparalleled opportunity to bring this emerging class of medicines to treat patients suffering from very complex diseases.
“With this significant milestone and the support of our top-flight investors and partners, we are well-positioned to begin the next phase of Nutcracker’s evolution.”
