Kelonia Therapeutics is the newest biotech to hit the pharma scene after receiving $50 million in start-up money.
The Boston-based biotech will focus on in vivo gene delivery to find treatment options for a range of diseases across immunology and oncology. Its aim is to provide gene therapies that are cheaper, simpler and more manufacturable to provide treatment for a wide range of diseases.
The Series A funding was provided by several investors including Alta Partners, Horizons and Venrock.
Kevin Friedman, president and chief scientific officer at Kelonia, said he believes the company has found a solution for in vivo gene delivery that is safe for broad therapeutic application.
The company was founded based on research from co-founder Michael Birnbuam’s lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and research from scientists at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Using lentivirus-like particles, Kelonia’s platform therapy delivers targeted gene therapy to a specific tissue, without affecting other tissue or systems.
“Michael Birnbaum’s industrially robust platform affords a targeting specificity log orders better than anything else out there and the team has a stellar track record for translating groundbreaking scientific gene therapy discoveries into viable products that are transformative for patients,” said Bryan Roberts, a partner at the venture capital firm Venrock.
As of now, the technology has been used in solid and hematologic tumors. But Kelonia has big ambitions, aiming to expand treatment to autoimmune diseases and rare diseases, among others.
The biotech has entered strategic collaborations with Adimab and ElevateBio. Adimab focuses on the discovery of therapeutic antibodies and will work with Kelonia to target tissue-specific antibodies for in vivo gene delivery. ElevateBio has a lentiviral vector platform that it will lend to Kelonia, along with its process and analytical development expertise, to advance Kelonia’s manufacturing abilities.