Neurological disease remains the largest cause of disability and second leading cause of mortality, worldwide, but life-changing therapies could be on the horizon.
Back in December 2018, we had the pleasure of sitting down with leading neurologist and neuroscientist Professor Christopher Shaw, molecular neurobiologist Dr. Youn Bok Lee and vector biologist Dr. Do Young Lee, the driving forces behind AviadoBio’s science, to learn more about their vision to develop transformative gene therapies for neurological disorders like frontotemporal dementia and ALS. Dr. Shaw described the remarkable genetic discoveries his team had uncovered in his lab at King’s College London and the journey that led them to develop the technology that inspired us to build a company around the promise we saw. The improved understanding of the genetic and pathological underpinnings of these neurodegenerative diseases and emerging clinical efficacy from use of targeted therapies in neurology have driven an increased interest in genetic medicines for these diseases – as well as a deeper understanding of key challenges in CNS gene therapy such as distribution and delivery.
Company building and incubation is some of the most rewarding work we engage in and, in fact, AviadoBio’s early home was our London office. In its earliest stages, we were delighted to work with Jonathan Jones, part of the founding team of CRISPR Therapeutics, and Graeme Fielder, former Head of Business Development at Audentes, as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence alongside a team of pioneers and experts in neurodegenerative disease, neurosurgery and genetic medicine. In 2021, the company emerged from stealth with former Novartis executive, Lisa Deschamps, joining as CEO and an $80 million Series A financing.
“F-Prime believed in AviadoBio’s promise and supported us by providing a management team, a generous workspace and the finances needed to advance. Their commitment led us from a scientific concept and personal passion to a potential reality of hope for patients in less than 3 years!”
Lisa Deschamps, CEO
Although we have seen an unparalleled pace of development for a wide range of diseases and a record number of drugs being approved by the FDA over the last several years, there have been some disease areas that have shown little progress. One of those is the challenging disease space of neurodegenerative disorders where there are limited treatment options for patients and major obstacles during the drug development process.
At F-Prime, we remain optimistic that we could be at the forefront of a breakthrough because of companies like AviadoBio.
AviadoBio is a pioneering gene therapy company focused on developing and delivering transformative medicines for people living with neurodegenerative disorders.
Avivomed, is a medical device company developing innovative neuromodulation technology to treat large disease populations.
Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering precision medicines for brain diseases through the integration of data science and neuroscience. Neumora is redefining neuroscience research and development with a data-driven precision neuroscience platform to cut through brain disease heterogeneity to match the right patient populations to targeted therapeutics. The Company’s precision data science platform integrates multiple data types to define patient subtypes through the development of Data Biopsy Signatures™ and Precision Phenotypes™.
RareCyte offers Precision Biology™ solutions focused on multiplexed analysis of cells and tissue with applications in both research and clinical diagnostics. The Company has deep experience in developing advanced precision life science systems used in cutting-edge labs worldwide. RareCyte customers perform innovative research, bring new therapeutics to market, and perform a wide range of single cell applications in oncology and disease research.
Prime Medicine (NASDAQ: PRME) is a biotechnology company founded to deliver on the promise of Prime Editing, a versatile gene editing technology that can truly “search and replace” to restore normal genetic function and address the fundamental causes of disease. Prime Medicine envisions a world where Prime Editing can cure or halt disease and provide lifelong benefit to patients—shaping the future of gene editing.
Adela (formerly DNAMx) is focused on the detection of cancer and other high-morbidity, high-mortality conditions through a routine blood test. The company’s genome-wide methylation analysis technology has the unique ability to distinguish the most-highly informative (methylated) regions of the genome from non-informative regions and preferentially target those informative regions for sequencing.
Garth Rapeport joined F-Prime in 2021 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence on the healthcare team. Garth is visiting Professor at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College School of Medicine in London. He was previously co-founder and CEO of Pulmocide and Respivert Ltd. which were drug discovery companies focused on the identification of novel disease modifying treatments for severe asthma and new generation inhaled antiviral and antifungal agents.
Garth is a medical graduate who undertook post-graduate training at the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford. After working at Pfizer Research in the UK he moved to GSK where he was SVP of Drug Discovery in the Respiratory area in which he led the discovery and early development new inhaled therapies for asthma and COPD.
Leyden Labs platform targets commonalities of viral families to protect humanity from known and future viruses.
OZiva is a plant-based Clean Nutrition Brand. The brand’s core differentiator lies in building a nutrition & fitness ecosystem that combines the best of ancient sciences such as Ayurveda, modern micronutrients, and an instantaneous digital community altogether.