Vita Therapeutics, a Baltimore, Md.-based cell engineering company harnessing the power of genetics to develop cellular therapies that follow an autologous and universal hypoimmunogenic approach, raised $32m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Cambrian Biopharma with participation from Kiwoom Bio, SCM Life Sciences, and Early Light Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, James Peyer, PhD., Chief Executive Officer of Cambrian Biopharma, joined as newly appointed board member of Vita.
The company intends to use the funds for:
- the completion of all remaining IND-enabling studies for VTA-100 and its subsequent IND submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
- the manufacturing of cells needed for clinical evaluation as well as patient recruitment efforts for the first clinical trial, and
- the development of VTA-200 and the development of VTA-300, an undisclosed cell type.
Originally founded out of the labs of Dr. Gabsang Lee and Dr. Kathryn Wagner at Johns Hopkins University and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in 2019 by Douglas Falk, M.S. and Peter Andersen, PhD., Vita Therapeutics is Cambrian Biopharma-affiliated cell engineering company leveraging genetics to develop cellular therapies that follow a dual manufacturing strategy, first beginning autologously before moving to a universal hypoimmunogenic cell line.
The company utilizes induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to engineer specific cell types designed to replace those that are defective in patients. It is currently working to progress its lead therapeutic, VTA-100, for the treatment of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), 2A/R1, into clinical trials. It is designed to be an autologous treatment that combines gene correction and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to help repair and replace muscle cells.
Its second therapeutic, VTA-200, is a genetically engineered iPSC derived hypoimmunogenic treatment designed to treat multiple types of muscular dystrophy.
FinSMEs
25/06/2021