Kano Therapeutics Raises $5M in Seed Funding
Summary
Kano Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company advancing single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) as a flexible biomolecule for gene insertions, raised $5M in Seed funding.The round, which brought the total amount to $7.1M, was led by The Engine Ventures and VSquared Ventures with participation from Taihill Venture and Metaplanet.The company intends to use the funds to develop its good laboratory practice (GLP) standards, design a process for clinical-grade production of kilobase ssDNA, and advance its internal and external programs through collaborative drug development.Led by CEO Dr. Floris Engelhardt, Kano aims to improve the broad use of single-stranded DNA payloads for cell and gene therapies. The company is developing and collaborating on therapies that safely, effectively and flexibly correct gene-length stretches of DNA inaccessible to todays editing techniques. The platform connects manufacturing, application and computational tools, serving as a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that: enables gene constructs with low toxicity and high insertion efficiency for therapies that were previously inaccessible builds a real-world computational knowledge base to understand 3D structure-to-function mechanisms that improve drug delivery and safetyemploys bioreactor-based production to manufacture long, circular ssDNA repair templates.