Monday, December 14, 2020

Locanabio Finds $100M For Gene Therapy

San Diego-based Locanabio, a biotech startup developing gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative, neuromuscular, and retinal diseases, has raised $100M in a Series B funding, the company said this morning. The funding was led by Vida Ventures, and also included RA Capital Management, Invus, Acuta Capital Partners and an investment fund associated with SVB Leerink, plus prior investors ARCH Venture Partners, Temasek, Lightstone Ventures, UCB Ventures and GV. Locanabio is led by CEO Jim Burns. The company said the financing will advance Locanabio's portfolio of RNA-targeted gene therapies and expand the technology platform to pursue a broad range of therapeutic indications. The company is targeting treatment of such conditions as Huntington's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, myotonic dystrophy type 1, genetic forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and retinal diseases.