Less than a year into existence, a local biopharmaceutical spinout developing a coronavirus vaccine has secured $10 million in new funding.
RNAimmune Inc., which Gaithersburg’s Sirnaomics Inc. launched in June 2020, has executed definitive agreements for financing from lead investors Smooth River and HongKong Hongrun. Shanghai Walga Biotechnology, High Forest Investment and Terra Magnum Sigma also participated. That’s in addition to Sirnaomics, which said it increased its own investment in the company.
The fresh capital enables the biopharma to speed up research and development in its mRNA vaccine and drug programs for high unmet medical needs in infectious disease, rare disease and cancer, the company said.
In a statement, RNAimmune Chairman Patrick Lu said the recent success of mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 create big opportunities for companies working with mRNA technology.
The $10 million infusion comes on top of $2.35 million that RNAimmune raised in August for its cancer program and an experimental Covid-19 vaccine in its pipeline. The company said it plans to file an investigational new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration for the coronavirus vaccine candidate before year’s end — which, if cleared, would open the door to clinical trials.
RNAimmune — which, per its name, focuses on mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines — has a headquarters at 401 Professional Drive in Gaithersburg, also the headquarters for Sirnaomics, and an R&D center in China. Dr. Dong Shen, an AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson alum, leads RNAimmune as its president and CEO.
RNAimmune’s raise comes about six months after Sirnaomics secured a colossal $105 million in Series D funding to support its development of treatments for cancers, metabolic and fibrosis diseases and viral infections. That’s also when Lu indicated his intention for the company to initiate its initial public offering in the near future, he said at the time.
Sirnaomics's work with RNAi therapeutics, which use RNA interference technology to kill disease-causing genes, makes it attractive to investors, Lu had said. He founded the company in 2007 after leaving Intradigm Corp., a Rockville RNAi therapeutics company he co-founded, where he served as executive vice president for six years. He also worked at Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) and Digene Corp., which compounds his 15 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and 25 years of biomedical research.
Sirnaomics said Monday it has kicked off a phase 2B study of its lead drug candidate in squamous cell skin cancer. The company is also running studies for candidates in multiple cancers and fibrosis diseases. And its pipeline includes treatments for liver, bladder, skin, colon and breast cancers; scar reduction and healing, liver and lung fibrosis and influenza, among others.
