The Israeli biotech startup mana.bio has been planning to launch its programmable drug treatment solution for months, and decided to move forward despite the recent attacks in the country.
The company is using an AI-driven approach called liquid nanoparticles (LNPs) to create unique programmable drug treatments. “mana.bio’s integrated experimental and machine learning platform enables the discovery of smarter, faster and more precise delivery formulations to unlock the field of genetic and nucleic acid-based medicines,” said co-founder and director Company executive Yogev Debbi said in a statement.
The solution lies in RNA-based therapies, which have the potential to treat infectious diseases, cancers and unique genetic disorders, but, as Debbi explained, RNA molecules are very volatile. “RNA molecules cannot simply be administered to human cells as they fall apart. They have to be protected by a special package (or carrier) until they are inserted into the cells where they can operate,” Debbi said.
Debbi's company not only went public, but also announced a $19,5 million seed investment led by Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health, Base4 Capital, NFX, LionBird, and Technio.
He was also scheduled to travel to San Diego for the first of two conferences where he would present papers on his company's focus on drug discovery when the attack occurred. The startup had been stealthily investigating this approach for several years before this week's announcement, and while faster drug discovery is something that could benefit everyone, it wasn't easy to decide how to proceed under the circumstances.
"We started thinking about what the impact would be and whether we should do it or not," he said. “Just to give context, we are all devastated in Israel. “This is the darkest moment at least that I can remember,” she said.
As it turned out, all flights out of Israel were canceled shortly after the attack, so going to the United States and presenting the document was no longer on the table, but he says it is important to launch it despite the current challenges because It is an important job. .
“We remain committed to our objectives, to our partners and to patients. who can benefit from this approach when working on drug development,” he added.
Launching a startup will always be difficult, especially in an area as volatile as biotechnology. Doing so in the midst of a war situation adds an unimaginable degree of difficulty, but the company is determined to move forward, even in such difficult circumstances.
"It's very, very difficult, and even with all the sadness and all the bad news that you hear all day, we as a company have the privilege and also the commitment to continue moving forward and continue doing business as usual." Debbi said. “And this for me is a very important signal for the team, the country and the world.”
