Biotech company raises £3.7m to fund research into age-related disease

Biotech company SENISCA has raised £3.7m from existing and new investors to fund its research into treatments for age-related disease.

The University of Exeter spinout has developed proprietary technology that harnesses RNA biology to reprogram aged “senescent” cells.

They are cells which behave differently to young, healthy cells in several ways, and are emerging as causal factors for multiple age-related diseases.

The company has now raised £7.1m from investors, alongside £1.1m in Innovate UK grants, awards, and commercial relationships.

Dr Sarah Cole, chief executive of SENISCA, said: “We’ve raised nearly double the previous rounds, enabling us to accelerate the development of our highly promising pipeline through preclinical stages and towards benefiting patients in the clinic.

“We thank our investors for their continued support and look forward to rapidly advancing towards our goal of becoming a world-leader in the development and use of senotherapeutics that target cellular ageing to treat complex disease.”

The funding has come from its investor base, including Emerging Longevity Ventures, QantX, the R42 Group, Trend Investment Group and Apex Ventures, and investment from new funds including Lifespan Vision Ventures.

Allan Weiner, investment director at Emerging Longevity Ventures said: “We are very excited to extend our investment in SENISCA and its ground-breaking technology.

“With exceptional foundational data, the company has made significant progress since incorporation in the development of a novel and broadly applicable senotherapeutic platform that overcomes the limitations of other senescence-targeting approaches.”