A nanotechnology startup led by Elisabet de los Pinos dubbed a “Nanotrepreneur” by Time Magazine has raised more than $3.2 million in the second tranche of its series A round. Its therapeutic is being applied to a wide range of tumors but its research has produced encouraging results treating ovarian tumors, according to an emailed company statement.
Aura Biosciences raised the money from private investors that included the former president of Genzyme, Henri Termeer, who has joined the company as a corporate adviser.
The technology uses a “pseudovirus,” according to an emailed company statement. It’s part of a new class of drugs modeled on proteins that form the outer shell of viruses. These self-assemble into nanospheres with tumor–tropic characteristics and can deliver both imaging and therapeutic agents to tumors and metastases efficiently, the statement said. Through its Nano Smart platform, it can detect cancers earlier and more effectively target tumors.
It was developed in partnership with the National Cancer Institute. Since the Boston-based biotech was started in 2009, it has raised $11 million. Aura Biosciences technology is part of a growing pool of sophisticated anticancer nanotechnology. Keystone Nano’s “nanojacket”delivery system uses a toxic molecule siRNA to target and destroy proteins in breast cancer cells. NanoSpectra Biosciences is developing laser-heated nanoparticles to target lung cancer cells. Others are using gold nanoparticles and radiation therapy.
