Helex, a US and India based therapeutics startup developing a new class of targeted medicines for genetic kidney diseases, today announced its oversubscribed $3.5 million Seed round, led by pi Ventures. Others participating in this round include Bluehill Capital, SOSV, and a global syndicate of investors. With this round, Helex has raised over $6 million in total funding to date.
With its recent funding, the company will accelerate preclinical development of its lead program, advance its proprietary kidney-tropic LNP delivery system and Epic-Cure 3D genome-based drug design platform, and expand into additional kidney indications to build a robust pipeline to deliver transformative impact for patients.
Incubated at ASPIRE-BioNEST, University of Hyderabad, Helex is pioneering a paradigm shift in the treatment of chronic and rare kidney disorders by developing programmable, non-viral LNP therapeutics that deliver genetic payloads directly to kidney cells - a feat long regarded one of the greatest challenges in drug delivery. The company’s platform is powered by data-driven deep-learning modelling using its own genomics data, bioinformatics and high throughput sequencing data from gene-edited target cells, to create, verify, and deliver disease-specific gRNA. By solving for kidney-targeted delivery, Helex opens the door to a new class of targeted, curative medicines for millions of patients who currently have no effective treatment options.
Helex was founded in 2021 by Dr Poulami Chaudhuri (CEO), Rohini Kalvakuntla (CBO) and Anirudh Nishtala (COO). They bring together extensive experience in the fields of LNP based delivery for genetic diseases, genome editing, molecular biology, drug development, as well as significant expertise in healthcare strategy and healthcare policy for advanced therapies.
The company’s lead programme targets autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a progressive inherited disorder affecting more than 12 million people globally and nearly 5% of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in India. Today, patients with ADPKD face a devastating trajectory, often culminating in dialysis or kidney transplant. Helex aims to change that with a single dose non-viral gene editing based therapy that could halt or significantly slow disease progression.
“This is more than a new treatment; it’s a new hope. For far too long, patients with ADPKD have had to rely only on symptom management, with no true disease modifying options. We wish to change that. By enabling targeted delivery of genomic medicines directly to the kidney, we are working to develop a transformative therapy that is also accessible and affordable for every patient who needs it. This seed round marks just the beginning of our journey,” said Dr Chaudhuri.
“ADPKD represents a significant unmet medical need, with current treatments limited to symptom management and not effective for all patients. Gene therapies are emerging as one of the most promising frontiers in medicine. Helex’s first-in-class mechanism of action has the potential to be a curative therapy and positions the company to build a differentiated pipeline of therapies for kidney diseases. We are thrilled to back this world-class team,” said Roopan Aulakh, managing partner at pi Ventures. |