£3.7m seed financing supported by new and existing investors will fund continued preclinical development of therapeutic pipeline programs.
SENISCA, a UK biotech developing RNA-based senotherapeutics to treat age-related disease, today announced it has raised an additional £3.7 million in funding. The new funding comprises significant backing from SENISCA’s investor base, including Emerging Longevity Ventures, QantX, the R42 Group, Trend Investment Group and Apex Ventures, as well as investment from new funds including Lifespan Vision Ventures.
In addition to the total investor capital raised of £7.1 million to date, SENISCA, through Innovate UK grants, awards, and commercial relationships, has also gained an additional £1.1 million in non-dilutive funding and commercial revenue which will further amplify its therapeutic pipeline.
Longevity.Technology: SENISCA, which is a spinout from the University of Exeter, has developed proprietary technology that harnesses RNA biology to reprogram aged senescent cells. Senescent cells behave very differently from young, healthy cells; sometimes called ‘zombie cells’, they hang around neither growing nor dying, but instead pumping a dangerous cocktail of pro inflammatory chemicals and encouraging other cells to also become senescent. Senescent cells, with their pro-inflammatory profile and disrupted function, are emerging as causal factors for multiple age-related diseases.
SENISCA has identified a novel and druggable component of the cellular senescence response, RNA splicing dysregulation, which can be specifically targeted in the context of multiple pharmacological and skin health indications.
The proceeds of SENISCA’s largest fundraise to date will support continued company evolution and the preclinical development of the biotech’s senotherapeutic programmes, that target the causes of age-related disease via RNA splicing regulation, resulting in cellular reprogramming and disease modification by attenuating senescence.
Dr Sarah Cole, CEO of SENISCA, commented: “This financing round represents another significant milestone for SENISCA. We’ve raised nearly double the previous rounds, enabling us to accelerate the development of our highly promising pipeline through preclinical stages and towards benefiting patients in the clinic. We thank our investors for their continued support and look forward to rapidly advancing towards our goal of becoming a world-leader in the development and use of senotherapeutics that target cellular ageing to treat complex disease.”
Allan Weiner, Investment Director, Emerging Longevity Ventures commented: “We are very excited to extend our investment in SENISCA and its ground-breaking technology. With exceptional foundational data, the Company has made significant progress since incorporation in the development of a novel and broadly applicable senotherapeutic platform that overcomes the limitations of other senescence-targeting approaches.”
Richard Haycock, CEO, QantX, said: “We are delighted to further invest in SENISCA, having
been an early investor in the Company. SENISCA has undergone a significant and rapid development and QantX is looking forward to working with the team to realise the full potential of the Company’s disruptive senotherapeutic technology.”
