Ribometrix, a US-based biotechnology spinout of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has secured $7.5m in a seed round co-led by SV Health Investors and Hatteras Venture Partners.
The round featured Abbvie Ventures and MP Healthcare Venture Management, respective subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firms Abbvie and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, as well as Dementia Discovery Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic investment arm of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
RNA drug developer Moderna invested $100,000, according to ExitEvent.
Founded in 2015, Ribometrix is developing therapies for a wide range of diseases, based on the theory that small molecules can target and alter the structures of ribonucleic acid (RNA), which plays a role in the regulation and expression of genes.
The spinout is commercialising research undertaken by Kevin Weeks, co-founder and interim CEO of Ribometrix and the Kenan distinguished professor of chemistry in UNC’s Department of Chemistry.
Kevin Weeks said: “We are excited about the broad therapeutic space this technology opens up and the potential to make a substantive impact on the lives of patients across a range of diseases.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.
