SonoThera™ Completes $60.75M Series A Funding for Ultrasound-Guided, Nonviral Gene Therapy Platform Development

• Lead investor ARCH Venture Partners is joined by Illumina Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Vertex Ventures HC, Medical Excellence Capital and others in global biotechnology and pharmaceutical investment.
• Funding will support platform optimization, preclinical development, early manufacturing, and initial proof of concept in humans.
• SonoThera’s technology platform and treatments aim to overcome the most significant delivery challenges in gene therapy.
• SonoThera’s platform uses a microbubble-mediated biophysical process to non-invasively deliver nucleic acid payloads of diverse formats and sizes, selectively targeting a wide range of organs within the body.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SonoThera™, a biotechnology company dedicated to treating the root cause of human diseases through genetic therapy, today announced completion of its $60.75M Series A financing round. The financing will support the continued development of SonoThera’s ultrasound-guided, nonviral, gene therapy platform and treatments, designed to provide patients with genetic medicines.

Lead investor ARCH Venture Partners was joined by investors Illumina Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Vertex Ventures HC, and Medical Excellence Capital. Also participating in this financing round were Eli Lilly & Company, Alexandria Venture Investments, Lifespan Investments, Formic Ventures, Foothill Ventures, and Wilson Sonsini.

“We are thrilled to reach this important milestone, which advances both our platform technology development and the growth of SonoThera,” said Kenneth Greenberg, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer of SonoThera. “The significant support of our investors further enables our preclinical development and early manufacturing activities while in parallel, we strategically build our team. Each step brings us closer to one day making our nonviral gene therapies a reality for patients and providers.”

SonoThera’s ultrasound-guided platform uses sonoporation, a microbubble-mediated biophysical process to non-invasively deliver genetic payloads of diverse formats and sizes, selectively targeting a wide range of organs within the body. Unlike traditional gene therapies, the technology does not require viral vectors which can be immunogenic and lead to both safety and efficacy challenges.

“We believe in the innovation SonoThera is developing to provide a new generation of genetic medicines and are pleased to contribute to its success,” said Steven Gillis, PhD, of ARCH Venture Partners. “The concept of a targeted, non-invasive, nonviral therapy which could deliver a variety of payloads would significantly change the genetic treatment paradigm for patients, potentially across a variety of disease states.”

About SonoThera™

Founded by Drs. Kenneth Greenberg, Michael Davidson, and Steve Feinstein, SonoThera, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to treating the root cause of human disease through genetic therapy. SonoThera is developing an ultrasound-guided, nonviral gene therapy platform and treatments designed to provide patients with the next generation of safe and effective genetic medicines. The platform utilizes sonoporation, a microbubble-mediated biophysical process to non-invasively deliver genetic payloads selectively targeting a wide range of organs within the body. SonoThera is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Visit www.sonothera.com to learn more.

Investor Inquiries:
investors@sonothera.com

Media Inquiries:
McDougall Communications on behalf of SonoThera™
Elizabeth Harness, P: +1 585-435-7379, elizabeth@mcdougallpr.com
Hannah Barry, P: +1 585-645-8985, hannah@mcdougallpr.com