CE-Ventures Backs Aptadir Therapeutics in $45.4 Million Seed Round

Italy-based biotech Aptadir Therapeutics has raised $45.4 million in seed funding, with participation from UAE-based CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Crescent Enterprises. The financing will support the company’s transition from preclinical development towards clinical testing, including work on its lead programme targeting Fragile X Syndrome.

Aptadir is developing RNA inhibitors known as DNMTs Interacting RNAs, or DiRs, which are designed to interfere with abnormal DNA methylation, a process that can switch genes off and prevent protein production. Its lead programme, CAP1-FMR1, targets Fragile X Syndrome by attempting to reactivate the silenced FMR1 gene and restore production of FMRP, a protein involved in brain development and function. The company has tested the approach in patient-derived disease models and plans to extend the platform into other genetic disorders and oncology.

The science behind Aptadir’s platform emerged from research involving scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Italian National Research Council, the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore and City of Hope National Medical Center. The round expands CE-Ventures’ exposure to RNA therapeutics, while giving Aptadir additional capital to generate the preclinical evidence needed to move investigational therapies towards human trials.