Dallas biopharmaceutical company ReCode Therapeutics has received an oversubscribed $80 million Series A investment—the largest funding round this year in Dallas-Fort Worth—that it will use to bring new lung disease drugs to market.
The company said that it will file an investigational new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug by 2021 for its experimental drug. If approved, it could be used in the treatment of two diseases that are marketed by chronic respiratory infections: cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia.
The round was led by Colt Ventures, the Dallas-based family office of Darren Blanton, and global healthcare investor OrbiMed Advisors LLC. Hunt Technology Ventures, a Dallas early-stage investor, also participated, as did several Boston and Philadelphia venture capital firms.
As part of the funding, ReCode Therapeutics merged with TranscripTx, a Menlo Park, California, biotech that focuses on primary ciliary dyskinesia. According to an announcement, TranscriptTX CEO David Lockhart will run the combined company from California.
ReCode Therapeutics’ roots date back to a research project by its founders, Daniel Siegwart and Philip Thomas, at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Now, fellow founder Michael Torres will serve as the new company’s vice president of research and development.
“Our preclinical studies demonstrate that our targeted RNA therapies have great potential for the treatment of life-threatening pulmonary diseases,” Lockhart said in a statement. “With these additional resources, we’re focused on advancing our preclinical programs into the clinic over the next two years.”
A year ago, ReCode raised a $2 million seed round. That combined with the new investment will allow ReCode to create an organ-specific delivery system that will convert a liquid drug into an aerosol for inhalation.
Lockhart said the investment will enable ReCode to create an organ-specific delivery system that converts a liquid drug into an aerosol that can be inhaled.
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R E A D N E X T
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The funding, which was co-led by Pfizer Ventures and EcoR1 Capital, will help drive ReCode's therapy programs for primary ciliary dyskinesia and cystic fibrosis into human clinical studies.
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