Integra Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that creates nextgeneration gene writing tools, has closed an additional €1.5-million investment from venture capital firm Columbus Venture Partners. Integra Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that is creating next-generation gene writing tools to make advanced therapies safer and more effective. The company was founded in 2020 as a spin-off of UPF by Dr Marc Güell and Dr Avencia Sánchez-Mejías and is based at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).

This investment comes on top of the €4.5 million Integra Therapeutics raised last December from AdBio Partners, Invivo Capital and Takeda Ventures and completes its seed round in line with the company’s set goals. The new funds will go to support development of the FiCAT platform prototype and preclinical validation with in vivo and ex vivo models. FiCAT is one of the most promising gene writing technologies in the world, as it addresses the current technical limitations of gene therapies (gene size, precision and stability) to make them safer and more efficient at preventing and treating genetic diseases and cancers with unmet medical needs.

The investment from Columbus VP comes through its third fund, Columbus Life Science Fund III FCR, which was presented in 2021 with €120 million. Damià Tormo, managing partner of Columbus VP, will join the Integra Therapeutics board of directors.

The new funds will go to support development of the FiCAT platform prototype and preclinical validation with in vivo and ex vivo models. FiCAT is one of the most promising gene writing technologies in the world, as it addresses the current technical limitations of gene therapies to make them safer and more efficient at preventing and treating genetic diseases and cancers with unmet medical needs.

“We thank Columbus VP for their trust and enthusiasm and look forward to working with them to achieve safer, more efficient gene therapies for patients as quickly as possible. In rare diseases alone, we know that 72% are caused by genetic defects and that there isn’t currently any effective therapeutic treatment for most of them,” explains Dr Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, cofounder and CEO of Integra Therapeutics. “We believe Integra Therapeutics, with ground breaking science, is destined to be one of the benchmark biotechnology firms in gene writing over the coming years. We can’t wait to start working with the management team at Integra and the current partners,” noted Damià Tormo. Integra Therapeutics also recently brought Professor George Church, a pioneer in human gene editing, on board to join the company’s scientific advisory board.