Modis modulates $30m series A

Modis Therapeutics, a US-based rare disease therapy developer partly based on Columbia University research, has secured $30m in a series A round backed by spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners.
The round was co-led by F-Prime Capital Partners, an investment arm of financial services group Fidelity, with healthcare-focused investment company OrbiMed. Aceras Life Sciences also supplied funding.
Founded in 2016, Modis Therapeutics is advancing treatments for rare genetic diseases led by an experimental therapy called MT1621 for thymidine kinase 2 (TK2) deficiency, where depleted stocks of cellular mitochondria can cause severe muscle weakness and premature death.
MT1621 contains nucleosides shown in pre-clinical and early clinical studies to assuage mitochondrial dysfunction and foster survival. Modis Therapeutics is preparing more clinical trials and will meet with Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency, respective healthcare regulators for the US and EU, to discuss MT1621’s path to market.
The company has additional therapies for TK2 deficiency in the pipeline as well as programs targeting other mitochondrial diseases with genetic causes. Ben Auspitz, partner at F-Prime Capital, has become chairman of Modis Therapeutics, while Rishi Gupta, partner at OrbiMed, has joined the board of directors.
Modis Therapeutics is based on research led by Michio Hirano, chief of the neuromuscular disorder division at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, alongside Ramon Marti, head of neuromuscular and mitochondrial pathology research at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute.
Aceras Life Sciences invested an undisclosed sum in Modis Therapeutics in 2016.