In a financial triumph, ReCode Therapeutics has just concluded a dazzling extension round for its Series B funding, raking in an additional $50 million. This stellar achievement brings their total funding for this round to a staggering $260 million.
Based in the sun-soaked state of California, ReCode is gearing up to supercharge its clinical development programs for two critical conditions: primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and cystic fibrosis (CF). But that’s not all—this financial windfall will also fuel ReCode’s ambitious mission to propel their Selective Organ Targeting (SORT) lipid nanoparticle (LNP) pipeline to new heights. Their vision includes pioneering mRNA and gene correction therapies for musculoskeletal, central nervous system, lung, and liver disorders.
ReCode’s Series B extension round has attracted fresh support from prominent players, including Solasta Ventures and Bioluminescence Ventures (BLV). Notably, Kouki Harasaki, Founding and Managing Partner of BLV, is set to join ReCode’s board of directors as part of this funding round.
Harasaki couldn’t contain his excitement, describing ReCode’s technology as “cutting-edge” and perfectly aligned with BLV’s investment focus. “At BLV, we focus on funding next-generation therapeutics platforms and developing first- and best-in-class programs,” he enthused.
What sets ReCode apart is its revolutionary SORT LNP platform, designed to deliver encapsulated mRNA modalities and other corrective gene therapies with pinpoint precision. Unlike traditional LNPs that typically head straight to the liver, SORT LNPs boast a groundbreaking fifth lipid, custom-engineered to guide nanoparticles directly to their designated target organs.
Chief Scientific Officer and President David Lockhart, in a revealing May 2023 interview, marveled at the unprecedented flexibility of this approach. He revealed that ReCode’s LNPs, originally designed for intravenous administration, have now been adapted for inhalation—a groundbreaking feat in itself.
Lockhart beamed with pride as he shared, “Nobody has done this successfully—created an mRNA therapy wrapped up in an LNP that is delivered into the airway and capable of directly reaching the cells involved in disease. It’s new territory.”
ReCode’s current focus is squarely on combatting lung diseases like PCD and CF. Their most advanced candidate is an inhalable mRNA therapeutic designed to target the DNAI1 gene, which, when mutated in PCD, produces a faulty protein, impairing ciliary movement.
The company hit a major milestone in March 2023 by dosing its first batch of healthy volunteers in a Phase I study for this candidate. The next exciting step on the horizon is the filing of an Investigational New Drug application, expected in the latter half of this year.
But that’s not all—ReCode’s innovation knows no bounds. They’re also harnessing the formidable power of their SORT LNP platform to wage war against CF, deploying investigational mRNA and gene correction therapies targeting the CFTR gene. With an experimental inhaled treatment in the pre-clinical assessment stage and an intravenous candidate in the discovery phase, ReCode’s journey is one of relentless dedication to pioneering medical breakthroughs.