Vickers Venture Partners leads US$13.2m Series B round in UK biopharma startup
VICKERS Venture Partners led the US$13.2 million Series B funding round in SiSaf, a UK-headquartered commercial-stage biopharmaceutical startup.
The funding round was matched by the UK government's Future Fund, which supports the UK's innovative businesses affected by Covid-19.
The funds raised from SiSaf's Series B round will be used to accelerate the startup's ribonucleic acids (RNA) therapeutic programmes to treat rare and therapeutically neglected genetic conditions of the bone and eye, as well as expand the pipeline across multiple debilitating autosomal dominant disorders, it said in a statement.
SiSaf founder and chief executive Suzanne Saffie-Siebert said: "This funding will speed up the translation of top scientific research into safe, effective and accessible treatments for patients with no specific treatment options currently available to them."
SiSaf created the silicon-based Bio-Courier technology, a non-viral, hybrid carrier system for therapeutic small interfering RNA (siRNA). siRNA can be used to target nearly all disease-related genes of interests, but are one of the most challenging molecules for targeted delivery due to their poor cellular uptake, susceptibility to degradation and potential to stimulate an immune response.
Vickers Venture Partners chairman Finian Tan said: "We believe SiSaf is well on the way to making the most sweeping change to RNA therapeutics ever made, helping to deliver on the promise of true personalised medicine."
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Startups
Grab-led GXBank teams up with Zurich to offer affordable insurance
GoTo eyes private placement of 120.1 billion shares
SoftBank leads US$1 billion funding for UK self-driving startup Wayve
Singapore battles to revive struggling stock market
NSG BioLabs bags US$14.5 million funding; inks tie-ups with Merck, EnterpriseSG
Singapore’s Anywheel gets green light to expand fleet to 35,000