NextRNA Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company unlocking the potential of non-coding RNAs to develop transformative therapeutics, launched with $9.3m in seed financing and a $46.8m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Cobro Ventures and Lightchain Capital, with additional participation from Circle Alternative Investments, Evans Capital, Jefferies, Rivas Capital, and Willett Advisors.
Proceeds will be used by the company to augment its target and drug discovery engine, expand its pipeline, and advance lead programs.
Led by Dominique Verhelle, Ph.D., MBA, co-founder, chief scientific officer, and interim chief executive officer, NextRNA is leveraging its proprietary technology platform to systematically identify disease-relevant non-coding RNAs and their interacting proteins, and to develop selective small molecules to drug these interactions.
The company was established based on pioneering work by Carl Novina, M.D., Ph.D., at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Since its founding in January of 2021, NextRNA has established its initial team, built out the target and drug discovery engine, and advanced two small molecule programs in oncology and immunology.
Founders and Leadership
- Carl Novina, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School
- Robert Langer, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Kenneth Anderson, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School
- Leon Wert-Lamas, Ph.D., DVM, NextRNA Therapeutics
- Marc Cohen, Cobro Ventures, executive chairman of NextRNA Therapeutics
- Dominique Verhelle, Ph.D., MBA, chief scientific officer and interim chief executive officer
- JS Cleiftie, M.S., MBA, chief business officer
- Julia Novina, J.D., chief legal officer
FinSMEs
01/03/2022