The funding round, totaling around 26 million euros (29 million dollars), was led by Blueyard Capital and Sprind. Bayern Kapital, Marius Nacht Group, Andrej Henkler, and several experienced business angels from the industry also invested in CPTx. The startup plans to use the funding to further develop its antiviral platform technology and expand its team.
CPTx, short for Composite Programmable Therapeutics, was founded in 2021 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich. The biotech company is developing a novel platform technology that combines DNA nanotechnology with synthetic biology. This technology aims to create customized objects in scalable quantities that can perform various functions in drug development. The process involves designing a target object and encoding its 3D shape and functionality into DNA strands. These strands are then produced chemically or biotechnologically and assembled through temperature-dependent annealing. Combined with additional functions, the CPTx platform is intended to offer new opportunities for antiviral therapeutics, gene transfer, and vaccine development.
Hendrik Dietz, CEO and founder of CPTx, comments on the funding:
“We are delighted that a consortium of experienced investors has recognized the immense potential of our platform technology. This enables us to complete the preclinical development phase and explore additional areas of application.”
And Monika Steger, Managing Director of Bayern Kapital, adds:
“Given our experiences with the Covid pandemic, as well as annual flu waves, we know how important treatment options for viral diseases are. Behind CPTx lies years of intensive research work that has made new possibilities possible, such as the use of DNA nanotechnology on a scalable, cost-efficient scale. The academic and entrepreneurial expertise in the team is immense, and this current funding is yet another example of how Bayern Kapital supports innovative spin-off projects from Bavarian universities based on outstanding technologies in their early stages. We see great potential for CPTx to become a leading company in the field of nanotechnology.”
