Jura Bio, a Boston, MA-based biotechnology company developing immune-based therapeutics using machine learning and synthetic biology, raised $16.1M in funding.
The round was led by Michael Chambers, John Ballantyne, Fontus Capital, and Josh Elkington.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its development efforts.
Founded in 2017 by Julie Norville, Ph.D., CSO and Elizabeth Wood, Ph.D., CEO, Jura Bio has developed an end-to-end generative machine learning and synthetic biology platform for the discovery and development of genetic medicines. With a focus on developing drugs built around the TCR-epitope-HLA synapse, they are developing a map from any antigen-HLA pair to any T cell receptor; such a map would broadly advance the development of therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune disease.
The company announced a research collaboration with Syena, a cell therapy product company and subsidiary of Replay, a genome writing company, to develop T cell receptor (TCR) based therapies.
JURA Bio will receive an upfront payment as well as research funding for the period of the partnership. The details of the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. If the option is exercised, Replay and its cell therapy product company Syena will be responsible for global development and hold exclusive worldwide commercialization rights on all TCR-NK therapies resulting from the partnership. JURA Bio will be eligible to receive development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments in addition to tiered deferred option payments on global net sales for products based on TCRs arising from the collaboration, as well as royalties on products utilizing at least one of the licensed technologies.
Replay launched Syena with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in February 2023. The engineered TCR-NK technology in Syena is based on the scientific discoveries of Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Stem Cell Transplantation & Cellular Therapy at MD Anderson.
FinSMEs
25/09/2023