Atsena Therapeutics, a Durham, NC-based clinical-stage gene therapy company, raised $150M in Series C funding.
The round was led by Bain Capital’s Life Sciences team, with participation from an additional new investor, Wellington Management, and existing investors including Lightstone Ventures, Sofinnova Investments, Abingworth, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Hatteras Venture Partners, Osage University Partners, and the Manning Family Foundation.
The company intends to use the funds to advance its lead program, ATSN-201, for the treatment of X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS), a genetic condition that is typically diagnosed in childhood and leads to blindness later in life.
Led by CEO Patrick Ritschel, Atsena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing treatments for the reversal or prevention of blindness from inherited retinal diseases. Its lead program is evaluating ATSN-201 in an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial for X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS), a genetic condition that is typically diagnosed in childhood and leads to blindness later in life. ATSN-101, Atsena’s investigational gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis type 1 (LCA1), has completed a Phase 1/2 trial with positive results. It is advancing ATSN-101 toward the initiation of a global pivotal trial as part of its exclusive strategic collaboration with Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd.
In conjunction with the financing, Norbert Riedel, PhD, a scientist and biopharmaceutical executive, will join Atsena’s Board of Directors.
FInSMEs
04/04/2025