RNAImmune, a spinout from Sirnaomics, raised $10 million in seed capital to develop mRNA therapeutics and vaccines. Sirnaomics, a Maryland-Guangzhou biopharma, discovers and develops RNAi therapeutics for cancer and fibrotic disease indications. Founded in 2020, RNAimmune is in the IND enabling stage for its lead candidate, a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine with plans to file an IND with the US FDA before the end of 2021. The seed round was led by Smooth River of Las Vegas and Hong Kong Hongrun.

Other participating investors were Shanghai Walga Biotechnology, High Forest Investment and Terra Magnum Sigma. Sirnaomics also increased its investment in RNAimmune.

RNAimmune will use the seed money to accelerate its R&D into mRNA vaccine and drug discovery with a focus on infectious disease, cancer and rare diseases. Besides the COVID vaccine, it is also advancing its RAS tumor vaccine program in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles.

"We are very pleased to see the exponential growth of RNAimmune, with completion of two rounds of financing in such a short time," said Patrick Lu, PhD, Chairman of the Board of RNAimmune. "The recent success of Moderna's and BioNTech's mRNA vaccines has demonstrated that mRNA technologies for development of novel therapeutics and vaccines are dramatically changing the landscape of the global pharmaceutical industry."

RNAimmune uses mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce its own proteins capable of fighting a wide range of diseases. The company has received a global exclusive right to Sirnaomics' proprietary Polypeptide Lipid Nanoparticle (PLNP) technology for mRNA delivery.

The company has also developed a proprietary AI algorithm (ALEPVA) for antigen prediction and vaccine design. By integrating multiple established platform technologies, RNAimmune is aiming to develop a comprehensive mRNA drug discovery and development platform, from which it will build a therapeutic and vaccine product pipeline. It expects to address unmet needs in viral infections, cancer and rare diseases.

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Disclosure: none.