The company plans to use the monies raised to create a cell and gene therapy discovery and development ecosystem researchers can use to speed their research.
On Thursday, Redwood City, California-based Synthego closed on a $200 million Series E financing.
The round was led by Perceptive Advisors with participation from new investors SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Declaration Partners, Laurion Capital Management, Logos Capital, CigaFund and Chimera Abu Dhabi. Existing investors Wellington Management, RA Capital Management and Moore Strategic Ventures also participated.
Synthego is a genome engineering technology company that uses machine learning, automation and gene editing to create platforms for “science at scale.” Part of its vision is automating biological research, and as such, it offers a range of products and services. The company plans to use the monies raised to create a cell and gene therapy discovery and development ecosystem researchers can use to speed their research. It also plans to invest in the development of more CRISPR gene-editing tools.
“CRISPR has become a powerful discovery tool, and the field is now at an inflection point,” said Paul Dabrowski, co-founder and chief executive officer of Synthego. “The promise of translating insights into clinical applications to treat a myriad of serious diseases, including cancer and genetic disorders, is within reach. With Synthego’s full stack of proprietary platforms, clinical-grade manufacturing capabilities, and strong relationships in industry, academia and the investor community, we are well-positioned to help our customers usher in this new era of genetic and cellular medicines, ultimately ensuring these therapies are accessible to all patients.”
The company also announced it had appointed Avi Raval as chief financial officer. Before joining Synthego, Raval was managing director and founding member of Perella Weinberg Partners.
“I am honored and excited to join the Synthego team,” Raval noted. “In my many years of experience, I’ve seen few companies with Synthego’s potential to transform the way new medicines are discovered and delivered. I look forward to contributing to our team’s strategic and financing initiatives to accelerate the development and commercialization of products that enable genome engineering at an unprecedented scale and speed.”
In May 2021, Synthego reported it had received its ISO 9001:2015 certification by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This was based on a comprehensive audit of the company’s complete manufacturing processes for GMP-grade single-guide RNA (sgRNA) that biopharma customers leverage for research and development of gene therapeutics and CRISPR gene editing.
“This certification solidifies Synthego as the top-quality genome engineering company,” said John Tan, Synthego’s chief operating officer, at the time. “We look forward to continuing to industrialize CRISPR-based gene editing and cell engineering, enabling thousands of our customers to drive innovation and R&D transformation in cell and gene therapeutics.”
And only a month before, it launched its Eclipse high-throughput cell engineering platform. The goal was to provide highly predictable CRISPR-engineered cells at scale. These have a broad range of R&D applications across indications, including neuroscience and oncology.
Bill Skarnes, professor and director of Cellular Engineering at The Jackson Laboratory and Synthego advisory board member, said at the time, “By industrializing cell engineering, Synthego’s Eclipse Platform will enable economies of scale, turning a historically complex process into one that is flexible, reliable and affordable. Offering CRISPR edits at scale, similar to what Synthego did with sgRNA reagents, puts research at the cusp of being able to study thousands of genes, and examine hundreds of variants of those genes.”
The company’s last financing, a Series D worth $100 million, was in August 2020. Including the most recent funding, the company has raised $459.7 million in venture rounds.
