Tome Biosciences Debuts with $213 Million Investment
Tome Biosciences made its public debut on Tuesday, armed with a substantial $213 million in funding from prominent investors and technology licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The funding, comprising Series A and B rounds totaling $213 million, was secured from a range of investors, including ARCH Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Heath, Fujifilm, Longwood Fund, Polaris Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments, Brucker Corporation, and GV.
The startup’s mission is to leverage programmable genomic integration (PGI) to develop curative cell and integrative gene therapies. According to Tome, PGI enables the precise insertion of genetic sequences at user-defined locations within the genome. Leading the team at Tome is former Pandion Therapeutics CEO Rahul Kakkar, who assumes the role of CEO, alongside chief technology officer Matt Barrows, known for his involvement in scaling up Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing. Abudayyeh and Gootenberg will join Tome’s board of directors.
Kakkar highlights the potential of PGI-based candidates to offer potentially curative treatments for patients with rare monogenic diseases, with a single drug per disease, irrespective of genetic heterogeneity. Additionally, he emphasizes the versatility of PGI in enabling the rapid development of cell therapies akin to biologics discovery, with potential widespread applicability across human medicine.
Tome’s initial focus is on developing both gene therapy treatments for monogenic liver disease and cell therapies for autoimmune disease, although the company did not disclose the progress of these treatments. The company has also secured patents for its core technology.
John Finn, Tome’s chief science officer, underscores the transformative potential of controlled DNA insertion, stating that it allows the field to move beyond random integration and utilize any natural promoter in the human genome. This capability enables precise control over tissue location, timing, and level of gene expression.
