Navan sups on seed funding

Navan Technologies, a US-based drug release technology developer based on Stanford University research, closed a seed round of undisclosed size on Thursday led by Amgen Ventures, the corporate venturing division of pharmaceutical firm Amgen.
Amgen Ventures was joined in the round by public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Hemi Ventures and unnamed institutional and private investors.
Founded in 2016, Navan Technologies has designed a drug delivery technique branded NanoStraw that enables cell and gene-based medicines to reach their target cells in the body.
Consisting of a nanoinjection interface pierced with minute pores, Navan’s technology enables cellular drug delivery without the use of viral vectors, which can make it difficult for the manufacturer to scale up production.
Navan Technologies will invest the seed capital in further development of its platform. Proceeds will also allow it to scale its production facilities as it targets strategic partnerships and collaborations to advance its therapeutics pipeline.
The company’s leadership includes chief technology officer Martin Hjort, who undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the materials science and engineering lab of Stanford research centre Wallenberg Research Link, and senior scientist Hannes Voßfeldt, currently a visiting research scholar at university hospital Charité.
Navan Technologies is a participant in the JLabs @ South San Francisco incubator operated by healthcare group Johnson & Johnson.
Lena Krzyzak, senior investment manager at HTGF, said: “We are excited about Navan’s vision to facilitate cell and gene therapies.
“With the ability to accelerate new therapy development and the promise of scalable yet local cell engineering and manufacturing, NanoStraws will greatly decrease costs, making cell and gene therapies much more affordable and accessible.”