BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ensoma, a genomic medicines company developing one-time, in vivo treatments that precisely engineer any cell of the hematopoietic system, today announced the closing of an extension of its Series B financing by $50 million, bringing the total size of the funding round to $135 million. The $50 million was contributed by new investors Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), Bioluminescence Ventures and Delos Capital and by existing investor SymBiosis. These investors joined a syndicate of leading healthcare funds to advance the development of Ensoma’s Engenious in vivo engineered cell therapy platform and pipeline of genomic medicines for immuno-oncology, genetic disease and other therapeutic applications.
“Ensoma is creating a new generation of smart immune cell medicines by harnessing the concerted power of multiple immune cell types,” said Emile Nuwaysir, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Ensoma. “There are millions of patients that need better answers. With this financing, we are well positioned to bring our breakthrough therapies to the clinic.”
In connection with the extension financing, Kouki Harasaki, Ph.D., managing partner at Bioluminescence Ventures, will join Ensoma’s Board of Directors. Dr. Harasaki commented, “Ensoma’s Engenious platform brings together delivery and engineering capabilities to unlock the full promise of in vivo multiplexed therapies. We are very excited about working with the Ensoma team to make this a reality.”
Other investors in the Series B included 5AM Ventures, Arix Bioscience, Alexandria Venture Investments, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Catalio Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, F-Prime Capital, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Mirae Asset, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Solasta Ventures, Takeda Ventures, Inc., and Viking Global Investors.
About Ensoma
Ensoma believes the future of medicine lies within us. The company is poised to create a new therapeutic category addressing diseases that impact millions around the globe, such as cancer and autoimmunity. The Engenious™ platform can uniquely address these disorders by leveraging world-class technologies for in vivo delivery and genome engineering. The ability to target and reprogram both immune cells and self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells will create multicellular and multigenic medicines that solve potency and durability challenges limiting current approaches. Ensoma also has the potential to leapfrog therapies in well validated indications such as hemoglobinopathies and dramatically expand patient eligibility through its portable in vivo solutions. Ensoma is supported by top-tier investors, strategic partners and a passionate team committed to a bold, global vision for genomic medicine. For more information, please visit www.ensoma.com.
