Nucleome Therapeutics, a biotechnology company decoding the dark matter of the human genome to discover precision medicines, announces it has closed an oversubscribed £37.5 million Series A financing round.
Key highlights:
- Financing led by M Ventures, along with JJDC, Pfizer Ventures and British Patient Capital, will advance Nucleome’s autoimmune disease programmes and fuel expansion of its dark genome atlas.
- Nucleome’s platform seeks to identify direct genetic linkages to disease-associated genes for drug discovery.
- The platform combines 3D genome technology and machine learning by directly linking genes to diseases and mapping pathways.
The funds will be used to advance the company's autoimmune disease programmes, fuel expansion of its dark genome atlas and further develop its proprietary platform.
The financing was led by new investor M Ventures, the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, with participation from Johnson and Johnson Innovation-JJDC (JJDC), the strategic venture capital arm of Johnson & Johnson; Pfizer Ventures, the venture group of Pfizer; British Patient Capital, through its Future Fund: Breakthrough programme; and founding investor Oxford Science Enterprises.
Nucleome has the unique ability to discover and validate targets through genetics, by investigating the ‘dark’ region of the human genome, which does not encode for proteins but contains 90% of disease-associated genetic changes. Understanding the role of these genetic variants has been a long-standing challenge, hindering the translation of the human genome into useful drug discovery insights.
Nucleome’s platform combines 3D genome technology and machine learning to shed light on these variants by directly linking genes to diseases and mapping pathways with unprecedented precision for drug discovery.
“We have already made significant progress by mapping genes to genetics in a number of human immune cell types and discovering the first wave of potential first-in-class autoimmune disease targets,” said Dr. Danuta Jeziorska, chief executive officer and co-founder of Nucleome Therapeutics.
“The completion of this oversubscribed round with such a high-calibre group of global life science investors is a recognition of the significance of Nucleome’s platform and its potential to support the development of an exciting portfolio of first-in-class targets for autoimmune diseases.”
Dr. Bauke Anninga, principal at M Ventures, commented: “Nucleome’s differentiated platform technology has the potential to fundamentally shift the way we discover and develop precision medicines. Unlocking the value of the largely unexplored territory of the genome can lead to the identification of high-value drug targets.
"Nucleome’s platform adds 3D genomic information to a wealth of available genomic data, uncovering a new dimension of information that is disease as well as cell type-specific. We are excited to lead this financing, and alongside our co-investors, partner with Nucleome’s exceptional team to advance their target and drug discovery programmes to bring transformative treatments to patients.”
Dr. Jonathan Hepple, non-executive director at Nucleome and advisor to Oxford Science Enterprises, added: “Since its founding in 2019, Nucleome has advanced to become a leader in 3D genomics analysis. Publications in high-impact journals have validated its groundbreaking technology and ability to identify new drug targets where other technologies fall short. With a highly experienced team, this fundraising, backed by an impressive syndicate of world-class investors, will allow Nucleome to explore the dark genome and develop its exciting pipeline of potential drug targets.
"Oxford Science Enterprises is proud to have supported the company since its inception and continues to do so, and we look forward to working with the team through this exciting time of growth.”