SRTD Biotech raised a €31.5 million Seed round to develop precision mRNA therapies. Investors included Mérieux Equity Partners, NRW.BANK, and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. The German company designs treatments that activate only in diseased cells.
Investor syndicate
Mérieux Equity Partners led through its Mérieux Innovation 2 fund. NRW.BANK and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund acted as co-leads. Lilly Ventures, HTGF, and Anobis Asset also joined.
Company and leadership
SRTD Biotech was founded in 2019 in Jülich, Germany. Dr. Bernd Hoffmann invented its core RNA technology and serves as chief scientific officer. Matthias Alder joined as CEO after the financing.
Technology and pipeline
Its selectively expressed RNA constructs stay inactive unless a specific RNA disease marker is present. A fusogenic lipid nanoparticle system delivers the therapy to organs including the liver, lung, and brain. The pipeline has four preclinical programs in liver cancer, lung cancer, liver fibrosis, and autoimmune disease.
The company will use the capital for preclinical work ahead of an Investigational New Drug application in the US. It plans to advance candidates toward clinical development. In 2024, it aimed to have liver cancer candidates in clinical development within three years.