Our Investment in Transformative Medicines – PNI is a global leader in technology and solutions for developing RNA, DNA, CRISPR, small molecule drugs, COVID vaccines and therapeutics
By Brent MacDonald – Principal @ Rising Tide VC
Precision Nanosystems Inc’s (PNI) mission is to accelerate the creation of transformative medicine that significantly impacts human well being. The Company creates end-to-end solutions that empower researchers to harness powerful nanotechnology to transform our understanding and treatment of rare diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases. Leading academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in over 20 countries are using PNI solutions to solve the significant challenge of delivering nucleic acids, drug molecules, and diagnostic agents. PNI’s easy-to-use proprietary microfluidic-based NanoAssemblr™ platform enables the rapid, reproducible, and scalable manufacture of nanoparticle drug delivery formulations. PNI’s proprietary lipid library facilitates Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) delivery of RNA therapeutics and can be licensed for preclinical and clinical development. The Company’s custom formulation and process development services allows clients to leverage PNI’s extensive nanomedicine development expertise. Access to value-added partners such as CMOs and GMP manufacturers supports NanoAssemblr users to manufacture their candidates for clinical use.
Covid Solutions: CanSino Biologics (Tianjin, China) and Precision NanoSystems recently entered into an agreement for co-developing an mRNA lipid nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) vaccine against COVID-19. The companies will leverage PNI's proprietary RNA vaccine platform, comprising of lipid nanoparticle delivery system and the NanoAssemblr manufacturing technology, to advance a COVID-19 mRNA-LNP vaccine candidate towards human clinical testing and pursuant to regulatory approvals, commercialization in different regions. PNI will be responsible for development of the mRNA-LNP vaccine and CanSinoBIO will be responsible for pre-clinical testing, human clinical trials, regulatory approval and commercialization.
“PNI has developed lipid formulations that are specifically designed for vaccine applications and we look forward to work with our collaborators to bring the vaccine to patients,” Dr. Andrew Geall, CSO at PNI and a scientific leader in the field of non-viral delivery of mRNA vaccines
The Company also entered into a license agreement with FUJIFILM Corporation to adopt PNI's NanoAssemblr technology and complete suite of instruments for Fujifilm's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, compatible with GMP regulations of US, Europe and Japan. As part of this agreement, Fujifilm has the rights to offer contract manufacturing services using PNI's proprietary technology and also use PNI technology to develop and commercialize its internal therapeutic drug products.
Why We Are Excited:
PNI is making significant strides when it comes to enabling precision medicine and is creating innovative solutions for the discovery, development and manufacture of nanomedicine for use as medicines and in medical research. The company provides a host of instruments, services and manufacturing capabilities to biopharmaceutical companies and life sciences researchers both here and across the globe. “Having worked with clients from proof of concept through to the clinic, we are proud to enable to creation of transformative medicines,” PNI CEO and co-founder James Taylor. Being able to affect disease at the molecular level is the key, and we believe nanomedicine is a fundamental technology for ushering in the next wave of genetic and molecularly targeted therapeutics. PNI’s technology is being used by biopharmaceutical companies worldwide to develop drugs not thought possible just a few years ago. See Precision NanoSystems' technology video here.
The Company has raised over $26M to date, with investments from 5AM Ventures, Telegraph Hill Partners, Rising Tide, Business Development Canada and others. The Company is slated to use its newly-acquired funds to support the expansion of its services, including its nanomedicine manufacturing platform, NanoAssemblr.
Rising Tide Fund Managers, LLC and its affiliates (“Rising Tide” or “We”) is a United States venture capital firm investing primarily in the information technology and healthcare / life sciences markets. Over the last 35 years, we have partnered with family funds, high-impact investors, and strategic partners to help launch and expand startups in a variety of industries across three continents. We are dedicated to cooperating with our entrepreneurs at all stages: from financing to leveraging our international networks to facilitating exits by design. For more information, visit www.rtf.vc.
The portfolio companies described herein do not represent all the portfolio companies purchased, sold or recommended for portfolios advised by Rising Tide. The reader should not assume that an investment in the portfolio companies identified were or will be profitable. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should be aware that a loss of investment is possible.