Less than a year after pulling in $1.5 million through a seed raise, Albuquerque-based bioscience startup Circular Genomics announced Wednesday it closed an $8.3 million Series A round the company's CEO said will fuel both hiring and product rollout in 2024.
Circular Genomics, founded in 2021, is developing a method to accurately diagnose, and ultimately treat, types of neurological diseases, including mental health conditions like depression and disorders like Alzheimer's and bipolar disorder. It does that by using circular RNAs, a more stable sort of RNA molecule, to analyze what are called "biomarkers," which can predict a patient's response to different antidepressants, for instance.
Paul Sargeant, Ph.D., Circular Genomics' CEO, told New Mexico Inno the startup's circular RNA-based biotechnology fits into the field of precision psychiatry — an emerging field that "seeks to develop therapeutic approaches tailored for specific individuals with a specific constellation of health issues, characteristics, strengths, and symptoms," according to an August 2022 report by the American Psychiatric Association.
"We saw through the pandemic that mental health issues were really right at an all-time high," Sargeant said. "We do not have good approaches for precision psychiatry, and this space is really heating up.
"I will expect that we will open up relationships with many partners in the space, because there is so much potential here to fundamentally change the way we diagnose and treat these sets of diseases," he continued. New Mexico Inno caught up with Sargeant via a Zoom call from Santa Clara, California, where he was attending the Precision Medicine World Conference.
Sargeant said Circular Genomics expects to release its first product — a circular RNA biomarker-based antidepressant therapy prediction tool — in 2024. That initial tool will allow patients to identify which SSRI, a specific type of antidepressant, they'll respond to.
A follow-on product that Sargeant said could be released in 2025 would allow patients to predict their response to SNRIs, another type of antidepressant, and atypical antidepressant drugs, too, alongside SSRIs.
Circular Genomics' new $8.3 million will provide the startup "sufficient runway" for those two product launches, Sargeant said.
The startup has recently expanded its team, as well, including hiring a chief commercial officer to help lead commercialization efforts. Circular Genomics currently employs 12 people.
But that number could double by the end of 2024, Sargeant said. The startup will look to hire a range of positions focused on commercialization, including business development, sales and product development staff, as well as a medical director to lead in-lab work.
Circular Genomics operates out of The Bioscience Center in Albuquerque, an incubator facility near the city's Uptown district. Sargeant said the startup recently signed a new 12-month lease at the Center, where it has three labs alongside dedicated office and conference space.
While other bioscience startups, like Albuquerque-based BioFlyte, got their start within the Center before moving into standalone facilities, Sargeant said Circular Genomics isn't interested in building or buying its own brick-and-mortar space at the moment. That's because, he said, "you can do so much stuff hybrid, remote or with partners."
Mountain Group Partners, a venture capital firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, led Circular Genomics' Series A round. Existing investors like Santa Fe-based Cottonwood Technology Fund and Albuquerque's Tramway Ventures joined the round, and UNM Rainforest Innovations joined as a new investor.
Mountain Group Partners, Sargeant said, contributed to Circular Genomics' seed round, as well. The Tennessee VC has expertise in the diagnostic and lab-developed test spaces, he added, which initially put the firm on the Albuquerque startup's radar.
Circular Genomics' Series A raise follows a trend of bioscience investments in New Mexico. Last year's largest funding round went to Rio Rancho-based biotech firm Nature's Toolbox, and Albuquerque-based BioFlyte and Santa Fe's Mercury Bio also raised money in 2023 — $6.1 million and $2 million, respectively.
