Samsung has made an investment in gene therapy.
Samsung Life Science Fund, a venture investment fund jointly established by Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics, and Samsung Bioepis, announced on the 3rd that it will invest in the U.S. company Latus Bio. Through this investment, Samsung plans to explore new bio-business opportunities with high growth potential and seek collaboration possibilities for research on core technologies in gene therapy development.
This investment marks the sixth investment by the Samsung Life Science Fund. The first investment in March 2022, Regu Gene Therapy, was also in gene therapy. Subsequently, the fund invested in the U.S. company Sendabio Sciences, continuing its investment in drug delivery technology. The following three investments were all related to antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), including Swiss Araris Biotech, Korean Aimed Bio, and U.S. Brick Bio.
This investment is part of Latus Bio's Series A funding round, raising $54 million (approximately 74 billion KRW). Latus Bio is a bio-venture company possessing technology for selecting and validating adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids specific to central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In particular, based on its differentiated capsid engineering platform, the company has discovered new AAV capsids that easily penetrate brain tissue and holds multiple gene therapy pipelines for brain and neurological diseases, where there are currently no adequate treatments and high unmet medical needs.
AAV is a virus with low immunogenicity and a simple structure, used in drug development to deliver therapeutic genes into the body and show therapeutic effects for congenital genetic diseases. Among these, the capsid is the "protein shell" that encloses the virus carrying genetic material and plays a role in recognizing genomic signals to penetrate specific tissues.
Dr. Beverly Davidson, founder of Latus Bio, is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Chief Technology Officer at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She is recognized as a global authority in the AAV field, having co-founded Spark Therapeutics, which developed Luxturna, the first gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a rare eye disease. Spark Therapeutics was acquired by the global big pharma Roche in 2019 for $4.3 billion (approximately 5.9 trillion KRW).
Latus Bio plans to advance its research and development activities based on top-tier gene therapy experts, including Dr. Davidson and faculty members specializing in neuroscience and genetic diseases who participate as technical advisors. The company will also participate in the upcoming American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) annual meeting on the 7th, where it will disclose plans for gene therapy development projects targeting various indications.
Jo Hoseong, Vice President and Head of Early Development at Samsung Bioepis, said, "Discovering capsids with excellent brain tissue selectivity is a core challenge in AAV technology. Latus Bio is a company with high expertise and growth potential in the AAV field."
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