Serif Biomedicines launch

Serif Biomedicines launched on April 21 with $50 million from Flagship Pioneering to turn “modified DNA” into a new class of medicines. (flagshippioneering.com) DNA is the body’s instruction manual, but drug developers have mostly used messenger RNA for short-lived protein production or gene therapy for one-time gene delivery. Serif says its approach rewrites DNA’s chemical form so cells can read it as medicine without changing the genome itself. (flagshippioneering.com) The company’s drugs pair modified DNA with messenger RNA “co-factors,” then package both inside lipid nanoparticles, the fatty delivery particles used in some RNA medicines. Chief executive Jacob Rubens said those co-factors help the DNA reach the cell nucleus, where it can drive production of a therapeutic protein. (biopharmadive.com) Flagship said Serif’s platform is designed to be programmable, durable and redosable, in contrast to RNA therapies that fade quickly and gene therapies that often cannot be given again. The company also said its modified DNA does not rely on integrating into a patient’s genome. (flagshippioneering.com) That pitch lands as genetic medicine companies are still trying to solve two old problems: immune reactions and manufacturing complexity. Rubens told Fierce Biotech Serif was created in 2021 inside Flagship Labs to address both, and said the team tested thousands of DNA modifications before settling on a formula that avoided triggering the immune system. (fiercebiotech.com) Serif said it will present preclinical data at an upcoming scientific meeting showing tolerability in non-human primates and sustained gene expression with therapeutic effects after intravenous dosing. As of its launch, the company had not named its first disease targets publicly, though Rubens told BioPharma Dive it is focused on rare genetic diseases and immunology. (flagshippioneering.com) (biopharmadive.com) The startup enters a tougher funding market for cell and gene therapy than the one that fueled the sector earlier this decade. BioPharma Dive reported that developers in the space have struggled to raise money amid questions about development costs and how widely some approved products will be used. (biopharmadive.com) Serif is starting with roughly 50 employees, according to Rubens, and is based at 124 First Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For now, the company is asking investors and scientists to bet that DNA itself can become a repeat-dose drug platform, not just a cargo carried by viruses. (fiercebiotech.com) (serifbiomedicines.com)