Irish biotech start-up Aerska has raised $21 million (€18 million) in seed funding to help develop ribonucleic acid-based therapies for degenerative neurological diseases that could treat, delay and ultimately prevent their onset.
The round was led by Backed VC and Age1, with other investors including Blueyard, Lingotto, Kerna Ventures, Norrsken, and Speedinves also participating.
Aerska is developing drugs that use ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference, a targeted therapy to switch off harmful genes linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, aiming to cross the blood-brain barrier that can block many treatments from getting through. It is developing its antibody-oligo conjugate (AOC) platform that uses “brain shuttles” for systemic RNAi delivery.
“RNA medicine is a newer, more advanced kind of medicine that very specifically turns off misbehaving genes,” explained chief executive Jack O’Meara.
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“So if there’s a gene that’s overactive and producing a protein that’s causing a disease, we have a system to very elegantly deliver our RNA to go into the cell, and turn off that misbehaving gene so that we can try to resolve the disease.”
The company, which was founded by Mr O’Meara, Dave Hardwicke and Stu Milstein, is planning to expand its operations in Dublin and London, with the funding also helping to accelerate its drug discovery timeline.
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“The investor base is US and European investors, and I think there was some intentionality behind that, as we try to do something exciting on this side of the Atlantic,” said Mr Hardwicke.
“Biotech, traditionally, a lot of it happens in the US, but both of us coming from Ireland and having spent time in the US, wanted to bring some of that American entrepreneurial culture, but do something from Ireland and the UK.”
Aerska’s founders are aiming to build up home-grown biotech innovation, building a team of seasoned drug developers that is based in Dublin and a research team in London. It is also engaging with Ireland’s university and research ecosystem on potential collaborations.
“Ireland has the talent, the research strengths and the ambition to become a world leader in biotechnology”, said Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke.
“Aerska’s growth is a perfect example of how Irish scientists and entrepreneurs are building solutions to some of the greatest health challenges of our time. Supporting this kind of home-grown innovation not only creates opportunities here, but also ensures Ireland is at the forefront of developing life-changing technologies and medicines.”
