Orbital will use Series A funds to advance RNA-based vaccines, immunomodulators and protein replacement therapies.
Pictured: Close up of $100 bills/Nomad_Soul/Adobe Stock
RNA start-up Orbital Therapeutics announced Wednesday that it had closed its Series A funding round, counting $270 million in earnings, which it will use to advance its portfolio of first-in-class programmable RNA medicines.
Orbital is developing RNA-based therapies for next-generation vaccines, protein replacements and immunomodulators. To achieve this, the start-up is building what it calls a first-in-kind platform that combines existing and novel RNA technologies and delivery mechanisms.
Orbital’s platform aims to improve the durability of the company’s therapeutic RNA candidates and apply them to a broader range of cell types and tissues. In turn, Orbital stated its technology will enable it to apply RNA therapy to more diseases and therapeutic areas.
The Series A haul will also help support the further development of this platform.
Though details of its science remain scant on its website, Orbital’s platform has already attracted a vast and high-profile syndicate of supporters. Its recent Series A round was backed by ARCH Venture Partners, which counts bluebird bio, Alnylam and Beam Therapeutics among its portfolio companies.
Existing investors 16z Bio + Health and Newpath Partners also participated in the Series A effort. Orbital also gained new supporters, including Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Redmile Group, Moore Strategic Ventures and Casdin Capitals.
Along with closing its Series A funding round, Orbital will welcome two new leaders to its masthead.
Niru Subramanian, formerly a top official at Rheos Medicines, will join as chief operating officer, while Jonathan Piazza, most recently from Silverback Therapeutics, will serve as chief financial officer.
A Deep Bench to Maximize RNA Technology
Orbital launched in September 2022 as a spin-out company from genome editing biotech Beam Therapeutics.
One of its co-founders is John Maraganore, formerly the founding CEO of Alnylam, who helped spearhead RNA interference-based treatments in the industry. Maraganore had also previously worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Biogen, where he held various leadership positions throughout his 10-year tenure.
Orbital CEO Giuseppe Ciaramella was previously the chief scientific officer of Moderna’s infectious disease unit.
Maraganore and Ciaramella are still with Beam, serving as its president and board member, respectively.
Also on Orbital’s masthead is Gilles Besin, who most recently led discovery research at Affinivax and was previously with Moderna, helping the company optimize its mRNA delivery platform. Besin is Orbital’s chief scientific officer.
“Few companies can possess the know-how, technology and biologic insights to deliver on the full breadth of opportunity that RNA medicines could provide for patients,” Kristina Burow, managing partner, ARCH and board director, Orbital, said in the biotech’s Series A press statement.
Orbital hopes its leadership, along with established expertise in RNA therapeutics, can position the company as an industry leader in this space.
Tristan Manalac is an independent science writer based in metro Manila, Philippines. He can be reached at tristan@tristanmanalac.com or tristan.manalac@biospace.com
