Scenic Biotech BV announces $31m financing

The round was co-led by seasoned European investors, Eir Ventures, a Nordic Life Science venture fund, Switzerland-based BioMedPartners and Luxemburg-based Vesalius Biocapital. Existing Dutch and UK investors Inkef Capital, BioGeneration Ventures and Oxford Science Enterprises participated, together with Scenic’s founders and management.

Based on its Cell-Seq genetic modifier target discovery platform, the Amsterdam-headquartered company targets genes with a new class of small molecules that are designed to suppress or completely block the effect of a disease-causing mutated gene. A particular goal will be to advance the company’s lead QPCTL immuno-oncology small molecule inhibitor program into the clinic, with three rare disease programs progressing towards IND enabling studies.

The first program is centered on a small molecule to treat Niemann Pick Type C (NP-C), a rare lipid storage disorder that affects lipid metabolism, or the way fats, lipids, and cholesterol are transported in human cells. The second program is for Barth syndrome, an inherited mitochondrial disorder caused by mutations in the gene encoding Tafazzin. Barth syndrome is characterised by defects in cardiolipin, a critical component of the inner mitochondrial membrane. And the third program is to treat a severe heritable metabolic syndrome.

Alongside its in-house pipeline, Scenic has a multi-year, multi-indication strategic collaboration with Roche’s US arm Genentech to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapeutics that target genetic modifiers. The collaboration has been expanded twice and now includes six scientific areas.

Following the Series A investment, Stephan Christgau PhD, General Partner Eir Ventures, Michael Wacker PhD, General Partner BioMedPartners and Stephane Verdood MSc, MBA, Managing Partner Vesalius Biocapital will join Scenic’s board of directors.