Strand Therapeutics has secured $153 million in Series B funding, led by Kinnevik and joined by new and existing investors, raising its total to over $250 million.
The funds will support the development of its mRNA therapy pipeline, notably STX-001, which expresses IL-12 from the tumor microenvironment and has shown promising Phase 1 results in patients with advanced solid tumors. Strand also presented encouraging preclinical data for STX-003, a systemically administrable mRNA therapy designed to target tumors while avoiding off-target effects.
Their proprietary platform utilizes advanced self-replicating and circular mRNA technologies, combined with genetic circuits, to deliver precise, durable, and localized cancer therapies. This approach aims to broaden treatment options for challenging diseases.
KEY QUOTES:
“We believe programmable RNA is the next frontier in therapeutics, and Strand has built the leading platform to unlock it. Their early clinical data is outstanding, and the systemic delivery capability has the potential to reshape how we treat disease, starting with cancer, with more disease targets on the horizon. We look forward to partnering with founders Jake and Tasuku and the entire team as they move into this next phase of growth.”
Christian Scherrer, Senior Investment Director and Head of Health and Bio at Kinnevik
“With support from our investors, we’re advancing our vision of developing safe, effective, and accessible therapies through programmable genetic medicines, especially for those patients with few treatment options. Our initial STX-001 Phase 1 data provides early and strong clinical validation of our platform’s capabilities. We have observed systemic immune activation and anti-tumor responses, including responses in non-injected lesions, across multiple tumor types. Now is an exciting period of expansion for our existing clinical work, as well as the exciting breakthrough assets in our pipeline, all with the potential to transform the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.”
Jake Becraft, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Strand Therapeutics
