HELEX Raises $3.5 Million in Seed Funding Led by pi Ventures to Advance Non-Viral Gene Therapies for Kidney Diseases
Helex, a therapeutics company based in New York and Hyderabad (India), has announced an oversubscribed $3.5 million Seed funding round. The round was led by pi Ventures, with participation from Bluehill Capital, SOSV, and a global syndicate of investors. With this latest funding, Helex's total funding to date has surpassed $6 million.
Key Details on Helex and the Funding
Company Mission: Helex is developing a new class of targeted medicines for genetic kidney diseases using its proprietary non-viral lipid nanoparticle (LNP) drug delivery and AI-based drug design (Epic-Cure™) platforms.
Technological Advancement: The company is pioneering programmable LNP therapeutics designed to deliver therapeutic cargo (genetic payloads) directly to kidney cells. This is a significant breakthrough, as targeted delivery to the kidney has long been a major challenge in drug development.
Lead Program Focus: The primary focus is on Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), a progressive inherited disorder affecting over 12 million people worldwide and a significant percentage of chronic kidney disease patients. ADPKD often leads to dialysis or kidney transplant.
Therapeutic Goal: Helex aims to develop a single-dose, non-viral gene-editing-based therapy that could halt or significantly slow the progression of ADPKD, offering a potential curative option where current treatments are limited to symptom management.
Use of Funds and Founders' Vision
The new capital will be used to:
Accelerate preclinical development of its lead program for ADPKD toward Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies.
Advance its proprietary kidney-tropic LNP delivery system and the Epic-Cure™ AI-driven drug design platform.
Expand its pipeline to include additional kidney indications.
Dr. Poulami Chaudhuri, Co-founder and CEO of Helex, stated, "This is more than a new treatment; it's a new hope. For far too long, patients with ADPKD have had to rely only on symptom management, with no true disease-modifying options. By enabling targeted delivery of genomic medicines directly to the kidney, we are developing a transformative therapy that is also accessible and affordable for every patient who needs it."
Roopan Aulakh, Managing Partner at pi Ventures, commented, "ADPKD represents a significant unmet medical need... Helex's first-in-class mechanism of action has the potential to be a curative therapy and positions the company to build a differentiated pipeline of therapies for kidney diseases. We are thrilled to back this world-class team."
Company Background
Founders: Dr. Poulami Chaudhuri (CEO), Rohini Kalvakuntla (CBO), and Anirudh Nishtala (COO), all alumni of King's College, London.
Locations: Operates from New York, USA, and ASPIRE–BioNEST at the University of Hyderabad, India.
Recent Appointment: The company announced the appointment of Dr. Suman Alishetty (a lipid expert and previous scientific co-founder of AexeRNA, acquired by BioNTech) as Vice President of Drug Delivery.