NEW YORK – Latus Bio launched on Thursday having raised $54 million in Series A financing, which it will use to develop gene therapies for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).
The funding round was led by investment firms 8VC and DCVC Bio and joined by other investors including Samsung Life Science Fund, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation, Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners, Modi Ventures, and Gaingels as syndicate partners.
The Philadelphia-based startup will deliver its gene therapies using novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid variants based on the research of Latus Cofounder Beverly Davidson, chief scientific strategy officer at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Davidson is also a cofounder of Spark Therapeutics, another gene therapy company that launched in 2013.
"We are excited to introduce Latus and our novel approaches to developing AAV-mediated gene therapies, which we believe have the potential to transform the treatment landscape for genetically defined CNS disorders," Latus CEO P. Peter Ghoroghchian said in a statement. In preclinical experiments, these AAV capsid variants have induced high expression of genes with more target specificity and demonstrated a better safety profile.
Latus currently has three gene therapies in preclinical testing for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2) and Huntington's disease. The first investigational CLN2 gene therapy is slated to enter clinical trials in 2025.