The biotech company Somagenetix, which was founded in 2019, has secured a total of 10 million Swiss francs in a Series A financing round. The round was led by Vi Partners and included other investors such as Schroders Capital, Zürcher Kantonalbank and Verve Ventures, announced a statement.
Somagenetix plans to use the fresh capital to advance its gene therapy candidate SGX-001 into the clinical phase for the treatment of Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD), according to the statement. The condition is caused by genetic defects leading to functional impairments of phagocytes, a type of white blood cells. The current standard treatment method is stem cell transplant, which depends on finding a suitable donor. The gene therapy developed by Somagenetix could offer an alternative, writes the statement. The project is supported by the Wyss Zurich Translational Center.
“My team at the University of Zurich has developed a best-in-class lentiviral gene therapy platform for phagocytes, as well as achieved successful preclinical validation of our approach to curing CGD, and we look forward to starting clinical application of SGX-001 during 2026,” Janine Reichenbach, co-founder of Somagenetix, is quoted as saying.
Alongside this Series A raise, the statement reports that Dr. Andrin Oswald has been appointed CEO of Somagenetix. He states that once validated in CGD, “the underlying technology has the potential to cure patients with a wide range of phagocyte-related severe diseases”.
Diego Braguglia, Managing Partner at Vi Partners, describes Vi Partners’ participation as an investment in the future of personalized medicine. “By harnessing cutting-edge lentiviral gene therapy technologies, Somagenetix is positioning itself at the forefront of innovation that has the potential to transform lives on a global scale,” he is quoted as saying.
Somagenetix is headquartered in Zurich and is a member of the Bio-Technopark Schlieren in the canton of Zurich. ce/ww
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