Newly-formed therapeutics firm Gemma Biotherapeutics (GemmaBio) has completed a $34 million financing round.
The $34 million seed funding round was led by Double Point Ventures, Bioluminescence Ventures, and Earlybird Venture Capital, with additional backing from Savanne Life Sciences. In a statement, the Philadelphia-based firm said that the funds would “fuel GEMMABio's operational expansion and innovative gene therapy programs.”
GemmaBio has initiated several active programs since its October 1 launch, including a recently announced collaboration with Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), the Rio de Janeiro-based supplier of immunobiologics, biopharmaceuticals, and diagnostics to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The firm noted that it is actively seeking other strategic partners to collaborate with in bringing its therapies to market.
GemmaBio was founded and is led by Dr. Jim Wilson, PhD, director of the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania, the Rose H. Weiss professor and director of the Orphan Disease Center, and professor in the departments of medicine and pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, as well as the chair of Franklin Biolabs, a new genetic medicines contract research organization. With his team at UPenn, Wilson pioneered the use of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) as transfer vectors for gene therapy.
