hC Bioscience and 4SR Biosciences Join Forces to Expand Platform Development of tRNA-Based Therapies

Key Takeaways

hC Bioscience and 4SR Biosciences consolidate complementary technologies, IP and know-how related to the design and development of tRNA-based therapies
Combined organization will apply multiple tRNA-based therapeutic strategies to target genetic disease and cancer.
Tao Pan, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago to join hC Bioscience as a scientific advisor and member of the SAB; Christopher Katanski, Ph.D. to join hC Bioscience as Director of Discovery Platform and Philip McGilvray, Ph.D. to join as Associate Director of Discovery Platform.

Cambridge, MA -- January 17, 2023 - hC Bioscience, a pioneer in the development of tRNA-based therapeutics, has acquired 4SR Biosciences to combine technologies, IP, and know-how to advance the development of first-in-class tRNA-based therapeutics. Their technologies will be used to discover and optimize tRNAs capable of overcoming genetic errors to treat genetic disease and cancer. As part of the acquisition, Tao Pan, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a pioneer in tRNA technology and biology, will join hC Bioscience as a scientific advisor and member of its Scientific Advisory Board, Christopher Katanski, Ph.D., will join hC Bioscience as Director of Discovery Platform and Philip McGilvray, Ph.D., will join as Associate Director of Discovery Platform.

“This deal consolidates proprietary discovery platforms, IP, and scientific expertise that will greatly advance our ability to discover and develop tRNA-based therapies,” said Leslie Williams, CEO of hC Bioscience. “Bringing their powerful research tools and expertise in tRNA and structural biology in-house enables us to better understand fundamental mechanisms of tRNA biology and disease pathways associated with genetic errors and, importantly, how best to intervene with engineered tRNAs. We are excited for Drs Katanski and McGilvray to join us to advance tRNA as a therapeutic modality and for Dr. Pan, a leading authority and pioneer in the tRNA field, to join our Scientific Advisory Board.”

As part of the acquisition, hC Bioscience will bring 4SR’s technology in-house, including MSR-seq, a proprietary high throughput sequencing tool that measures tRNA abundance, modification, charging, and fragmentation in response to stress, varying biological conditions and genetic mutations. This can be applied to hC Bio’s PTCX (“patch”) platform to correct premature termination of protein synthesis as well as augment the Company’s SWTX (“switch”) platform designed to target rare codons in genetic disease and cancer.

“We have developed a powerful tool to understand tRNA and their modifications and their role in disease,” added Dr. Pan. “Joining forces combines complementary discovery platforms under the umbrella of a single organization with existing business and scientific expertise, delivery expertise, computational capabilities, and financial resources.”

4SR was founded in December 2021 out of The University of Chicago by Christopher Katanski, Ph.D. and Tao Pan, Ph.D. The company has recently leveraged their MSR-seq platform to develop engineered tRNA designed for partial rescue of missense mutations in genetic diseases.

About hC Bioscience, Inc.

hC Bioscience is dedicated to improving the lives of patients with the development of first-in-class tRNA-based therapeutics to target protein dysfunction. hC Bioscience’s innovative approach to precision protein editing has the potential to treat genetically defined conditions, which account for 10-15% of all human disease. The lead platform in development is directed at restoring protein function in diseases caused by nonsense mutations or premature termination codons (PTCs). A single tRNA therapy has the potential to treat many diseases, regardless of the gene or location of the mutation. The Company has raised $40 million to date and its investors include ARCH Venture Partners, Takeda Ventures, 8VC, Taiho Ventures and Panacea Venture.

Key Takeaways

hC Bioscience and 4SR Biosciences consolidate complementary technologies, IP and know-how related to the design and development of tRNA-based therapies
Combined organization will apply multiple tRNA-based therapeutic strategies to target genetic disease and cancer.
Tao Pan, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago to join hC Bioscience as a scientific advisor and member of the SAB; Christopher Katanski, Ph.D. to join hC Bioscience as Director of Discovery Platform and Philip McGilvray, Ph.D. to join as Associate Director of Discovery Platform.

tRNA-based therapies: Learn More >

Media Gallery

Image may be re-used without permission

hC Bioscience

Quotes

“

This deal consolidates proprietary discovery platforms, IP, and scientific expertise that will greatly advance our ability to discover and develop ...

Leslie Williams — Co-Founder, President & CEO

“

Joining forces combines complementary discovery platforms under the umbrella of a single organization with existing business and scientific experti...

Tao Pan, Ph.D., — Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago.

Related Bios

Leslie Williams

Co-Founder, President & CEO

Leslie J Williams, a 25-year biopharmaceutical industry veteran, is an experienced biotech CEO and board of directors’ member with demonstrated expertise in building companies, raising funds, and negotiating strategic collaborations.

Leslie is founding CEO, President & Director of hC Bioscience, Inc. an innovator and leader in protein editing with tRNA based therapeutics. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Ocular Therapeutix (OCUL), Windtree Therapeutics (WINT), and CSCRI (Coral Sea Clinical Research Institute). In addition, she serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Life Science Leader, the Advisory Board of Life Science Cares and serves as an EIR at UVA and University of Iowa. Ms. Williams was formerly the founder and CEO of ImmusanT, developing immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases and was CEO at Ventaira Pharmaceuticals developing therapies using the lung as a portal for delivery. Williams prior pharmaceutical experience includes INO Therapeutics, Merck and GSK. She was also a venture partner at Battelle Ventures where she sourced and evaluated deals and assisted early-stage technology companies with strategy, management, business development and M&A.

Williams holds an MBA from Washington University, John Olin School of Business, and a B.S. degree with honors in nursing from the University of Iowa. Before entering the industry, she was a critical-care nurse at Duke University, Medical College of Virginia and at the University of Iowa.

View Full Bio>>

Tao Pan, Ph.D.,

Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago.

Tao Pan is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago. Throughout his career he has made many contributions to RNA biology, RNA biochemistry, and RNA technology. He discovered naturally regulated mistranslation in which human cells use misacylated transfer RNA to facilitate stress response. He received NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for this discovery and extended adaptive mistranslation to other eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. His current research focuses on functional genomics and biology of tRNA and dynamic epitranscriptome of RNA modifications in both basic and clinical science. He developed multiple tRNA sequencing methods that aided biological discoveries and mechanistic investigations.

Before starting his faculty position at U. Chicago in 1994, he received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Yale University and did postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was a co-founder and scientific advisor of 4SR Biosciences that worked on developing missense tRNA therapeutics before joining the scientific advisory board of hc Bioscience.

View Full Bio>>

Christopher Katanski, Ph.D.

Director of Discovery Platform

Chris is an RNA biochemist and expert in protein translation.

Prior to joining hC Biosciences, Chris was cofounder and CEO of 4SR Biosciences where he focused on tRNA therapeutics to treat missense mutations. Chris was previously a postdoctoral scholar with Prof. Tao Pan at the University of Chicago where he developed new technologies to study tRNA and developed tRNA-tools to correct missense substitutions.

Chris obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in biochemistry and molecular biophysics. He studied regulation of translation during stress, showing adaptive benefits of protein aggregation.

View Full Bio>>

Philip McGilvray, Ph.D.

Associate Director of Discovery Platform

Phil is an expert biochemist and cell biologist, with a decade of experience exploring fundamental biological processes.

Phil obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from the University of Chicago. His research focused on the characterization of a novel membrane protein complex involved in co-translational membrane protein biogenesis in human cells.

Prior to joining hC Biosciences Phil was the Lead Scientist at 4SR Biosciences, where he led efforts to identify novel therapeutic tRNAs to treat missense mutations in rare diseases. Additionally, Phil was previously a Principal Scientist at Nanoimaging Services where he managed programs to characterize a broad range of biologics, nanomaterials, and small molecules using electron microscopy.

View Full Bio>>

Contacts

Savannah Beaver

savannah@reportablenews.com

(617) 804-0366

Media