Cargene Biopharma, a Singapore-based preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, raised US$19.2M in Pre-A funding.
The round was led by BioTrack Capital, with participation from Hyfinity Investments, Legendstar Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to advance the lead asset to investigational new drug (IND) application and accelerate the Company’s technology development.
Jointly founded by XQ Lin, Chairman and founder of EVX Ventures, Dr. Yann Chong Tan, a serial biotech entrepreneur who has co-founded a NASDAQ listed biotech company and Dr.Torsten Wuestefeld, principal investigator at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore, Cargene is a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing oligonucleotide therapeutics for cardiovascular, fibrotic and pulmonary diseases. With operations in Singapore, USA and China, Cargene aims to improve quality of life for millions of patients worldwide through clinically meaningful treatments generated from its proprietary platforms coupled with deep biology and chemistry insights.
Its OSCAR™ algorithm and SMoP™ pharmacophore design platforms work together to enable rapid innovation of highly potent, specific and stable siRNAs against any target. The first programs to leverage on this synergic combination are cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Cargene has exclusively in-licensed regenerative medicine-related technology from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to reduce liver fibrosis in NASH patients. By inhibiting the targets, the technology has demonstrated the enhancement of liver regeneration in both acute and chronic liver disease models as well as human cell line assays.
The company is also developing technologies for targeted delivery of oligonucleotides to a variety of organs and tissues, and novel nucleosides to boost pharmaceutical efficacy of the siRNAs.
Cargene has a scientific board of world-class scientists comprising Professors Harvey Lodish, Roger Foo, Kausik Ray, and Torsten Wuestefeld.
FinSMEs
15/12/2021