▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor
hC Bioscience announced today that it has completed a $24 million Series A funding round to develop potential tRNA-based "first-in-class" therapies to treat multiple genetic diseases. Unlike other individualized therapies that target mRNA, this innovative tRNA-based therapy has the potential to treat multiple diseases with one therapy.
The company is advancing two complementary platforms. The platform, called PTCX, is designed to directly restore protein function when an "senseless mutation" leads to premature termination of codon production, causing protein dysfunction. This problem is responsible for 10-15% of human diseases. The tRNA synthesized on this platform is able to read through the prematurely occurring stop codons, allowing the generation of suitable full-length proteins.
▲PTCX technology platform mechanism (Source: hC Bioscience official website)
The company also developed a second tRNA-based technology platform called SWTX, which is used to treat diseases caused by missense mutations that produce too many proteins or do not need proteins. The technique aims to label these disease-causing proteins so that they are degraded by the cell's protein degradation system.
▲The mechanism of action of the SWTX platform (Source: hC Bioscience official website)
"We're creating drugs that don't need to edit genes to restore protein function." Ms. Leslie J. Williams, President and CEO of hC Bioscience, said, "No matter what the gene is, or where the gene mutation occurs, a tRNA therapy has the potential to treat many diseases. ”