Durham biotech firm Tune Therapeutics raises $175 million
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Dr. Charles Gersbach, pictured, a professor at Duke University, co-founded the Durham biotech company Tune Therapeutics.
A Durham biotech firm founded on technology built at Duke University has raised $175 million to fund clinical trials of its treatment that tunes gene activity within the body.
Why it matters: The fundraising round by Tune Therapeutics is one of the largest in the Triangle in recent months and will give the company runway to collect more data on its leading drug, which attempts to treat chronic hepatitis B.
Driving the news: Founded in 2021, Tune's therapies attempt to tweak gene expression within the body to neutralize viruses or other diseases.
- Epigenetics is an emerging field within gene therapy, but unlike other therapies, the treatments do not alter human DNA.
- Instead, it delivers nanoparticles to the affected part of the body — liver cells in the case of hepatitis B — that convert to proteins that can neutralize the virus' ability to replicate.
State of play: The company's first trials, which are set to begin in New Zealand and Hong Kong, focus on targeting hepatitis B and eliminating its ability to replicate in the liver. The therapy is currently delivered via a one-time injection.
- The therapy has already shown strong results in animal trials, according to Derek Jantz, the company's chief scientific officer.
- Tune Therapeutics' latest funding round was led by New Enterprise Associates, the venture fund Yosemite, Regeneron Ventures and Hevolution Foundation.
Zoom in: In the United States, more than two million people live with chronic hepatitis B, according to the Hepatitis B Foundation, and the disease is especially prevalent in Southeast Asia, where the company hopes to enroll patients in the trial.
- But Jantz said the ultimate goal is to expand its technology into a host of other viruses and diseases beyond hepatitis B.
What they're saying: "The big thing to be on the lookout for is data" from their clinical trials, Jantz said, "because that is going to be a very big moment in the field ... [potentially] the first demonstration of epigenetic control of anything, much less a virus in a human being."
State of play: Tune has around 80 employees split between offices in downtown Durham and Seattle.
- Jantz said he doesn't anticipate the company will grow its headcount significantly in the near future until it sees data from its hepatitis B trial or moves other treatments into clinical trials.