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Toronto's Specific Biologics Raises $35 Million to Advance ALS Gene-Editing Therapy
Toronto's Specific Biologics raises $35 million in venture funding to advance ALS gene-editing therapy
Key points
- The US$35 million venture capital round is led by North Carolina-based Hatteras Venture Partners.
- The company's first target is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which about 1,000 people are diagnosed with annually in Canada.
- Canadians still own a vast majority of the company, including early backers Lumira Ventures and adMare BioInnovations.
Why it matters. If the technology works in humans as it has in petri dishes and mice, Specific believes it could be applied to other repeat conditions and genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
A Toronto-based biotech will announce on Monday that it has closed a US$35 million venture capital round led by North Carolina-based Hatteras Venture Partners. Its first target is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and it believes its Dualase technology could stop progression in the 1 in 10 ALS patients whose disease stems from the defect. Canadians still own a vast majority of the company, including early backers Lumira Ventures.
Latest updates
Toronto's Specific Biologics Raises $35 Million to Advance ALS Gene-Editing Therapy
Specific Biologics, a Toronto company that spun out of Western University, has raised $35 million, The Globe and Mail reported. The company has generated promising pre-clinical results for its gene-editing approach. It is developing treatments for dozens of neurological and neuromuscular diseases known as repeat expansion disorders, which are caused by a similar genetic defect. The research is aimed at potentially helping some patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal disease. Pre-clinical results do not yet show whether the therapy will work in humans, and the article did not specify the next clinical steps or timeline.