Latus Bio, a biotechnology company developing novel gene therapy candidates for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), announced its launch and an initial closing of $54 million in Series A funding. 8VC and DCVC Bio are leading the funding round. So far, Samsung Life Science Fund (created by Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, and Samsung Venture Investment Corporation), The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation, Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners, Modi Ventures, and Gaingels have joined as syndicate partners.
Launched from the lab of co-founder Professor Beverly Davidson at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Latus is developing CNS gene therapy candidates using proprietary technologies that have been used to identify and engineer novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid variants to show unprecedented potency, specificity, and safety.
AAV-mediated gene therapy has been promising for treating genetically defined CNS disorders. However, it has been limited by its inability to transduce specific CNS substructures and cell types with the requisite specificity. These limitations have led to the reliance on high-dose injections that cause off-target toxicity and difficulties in scalable manufacturing.
Latus’ proprietary technologies aim to address these challenges directly by enabling massively paralleled and unbiased screening of novel AAV capsids in non-human primates (NHP). With these preclinical NHP models, Latus’ capsid variants demonstrated high gene expression in precise CNS locations with target cell specificity and minimal-to-no off-tissue activity. Based on the preclinical data, Latus plans to administer low doses of its product candidates in clinical studies to improve safety and enable successful manufacturing.
The company’s management comprises experienced and respected leaders in gene therapy and neuroscience. Headed by CEO P. Peter Ghoroghchian, a physician-scientist and serial biotechnology entrepreneur, the team brings a wealth of experience in advancing innovative therapies from platform identification to preclinical discovery and through successful clinical development. Latus co-founder Professor Beverly Davidson and Latus Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Jang-Ho Cha are the recent recipients of the 2023 Hereditary Disease Foundation’s Transformative Research Award in recognition of their innovative approach to advancing Huntington’s disease research.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are excited to introduce Latus and our novel approaches to developing AAV-mediated gene therapies, which we believe have the potential to transform the treatment landscape for genetically-defined CNS disorders. With this initial close of our Series A financing, we are poised to accelerate the development of our innovative candidates for CLN2 disease – with first-in-human dosing planned in late 2025 – and for Huntington’s disease, as we seek to address these challenging conditions.”
– P. Peter Ghoroghchian, CEO of Latus
“We are proud to help Dr. Davidson translate her incredible work at CHOP into Latus. It is so exciting to see the Davidson Lab’s deep insights in AAV therapies coupled with a dream team of drug developers. Empowering this science, team, and mission is the kind of work that makes you so grateful to be an investor.”
– Francisco Gimenez, Partner at 8VC
“The team at Latus has aggregated an immense pool of technology and know-how that we believe could lead them to overcome limitations that have been plaguing the modality—specifically the interconnectedness between therapy manufacturing, specificity, and therapeutic window.”
– Kiersten Stead, Managing Partner at DCVC Bio
