What does Atsena Therapeutics do?
Atsena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company based in Durham, NC that focuses on developing innovative treatments to reverse or prevent blindness caused by inherited retinal diseases.
How much did they raise?
The company raised $150M in Series C funding. The round was led by Bain Capital’s Life Sciences team, with participation from Wellington Management and existing investors including Lightstone Ventures, Sofinnova Investments, Abingworth, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Hatteras Venture Partners, Osage University Partners, and the Manning Family Foundation.
What are their plans for the money?
The funds will be used to advance the company’s lead program, ATSN-201, for treating X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS), and to further the development of its pipeline. This could accelerate clinical progress for therapies aimed at preventing or reversing blindness in patients diagnosed from childhood.
What have they achieved so far?
Atsena Therapeutics has already made strides in its research, with ATSN-201 undergoing a Phase I/II clinical trial for XLRS and its investigational gene therapy ATSN-101 for Leber congenital amaurosis type 1 (LCA1) completing a Phase 1/2 trial with positive results. The company is preparing to initiate a global pivotal trial in collaboration with Nippon Shinyaku.
