hC Bioscience Announces $40 Million Series A

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — hC Bioscience, Inc., a company developing first-in-class tRNA-based therapeutics targeting protein dysfunction in genetically defined diseases, today announced an extension of $16 million to its Series A funding round, bringing the total raised to $40 million. Taiho Ventures and Panacea Venture joined existing investors, ARCH Venture Partners, Takeda Ventures and 8VC.

hC Bioscience is creating engineered tRNAs with the power to overcome disease-causing issues in the genetic code as proteins are made. hC Bio’s innovations in precision protein editing therapies target genetically-defined diseases including cancer. A single tRNA therapy has the potential to treat many diseases, regardless of the gene or location of the mutation.

“We are thrilled to announce our Series A extension of $16 million and welcome Seiji Miyahara, Taiho Ventures, and Benjamin Chen, Panacea Venture, to our board of directors,” said Leslie Williams, co-founder, director and chief executive officer of hC Bioscience. “The additional support will allow us to expand our pipeline more rapidly and extend our runway,” Williams said. “We are excited to advance our lead drug candidates in cancer and genetic disease by delivering tRNA both locally and systemically.”

Dr. Steven Gillis, chairman of the board, stated, “This follow-on financing in challenging markets further validates the potential of hC Bio’s approach to advance tRNA based treatments. It further underscores investor confidence in the hC Bioscience team to continue to make progress toward bringing tRNA based therapeutics to the clinic.”

About hC Bioscience, Inc.

hC Bioscience is dedicated to improving the lives of patients with the development of first-in-class tRNA-based therapeutics targeting protein dysfunction. hC Bioscience’s innovative approach to precision protein editing has the potential to treat genetically defined conditions which account for 10-15% of all human disease. The lead platform in development is directed at restoring protein function in diseases caused by nonsense mutations or premature termination codons (PTCs). A single tRNA therapy has the potential to treat many diseases, regardless of the gene or location of the mutation.