Houdini Bio, a University of Cambridge spinout emerging from stealth with a novel approach to improving the performance of gene and cell therapies, has raised nearly £1.5m.
By redesigning therapeutic DNA to bypass the body’s defence mechanisms, Houdini Bio’s technology enables treatments to remain active for longer inside patients and be administered at lower doses, overcoming major barriers to their long-term effectiveness and safety.
The startup’s preclinical data indicates its approach can increase gene expression by more than tenfold compared to existing methods from competitors.
The funding is made up with a combination of non-dilutive grant funding and pre-seed investment led by SCVC, the venture capital arm of Science Creates.
The oversubscribed round, which included participation from Deep Science Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise VC, will support the development of Houdini Bio’s machine learning-powered platform.
“Gene therapies really do represent the future of medicine, but they are stuck behind an invisible commercial and biological bottleneck,” says Harry Destecroix, SCVC managing partner and Science Creates founder.
“Houdini Bio has developed a compelling approach to overcoming one of the field’s most persistent challenges, and it’s great to have led this investment from SCVC.”
