Chroma Medicine and Nvelop Tx merge to launch nChroma Bio with $75M

The creation of nChroma, a biotechnology firm focused on in vivo targeted genetic medicines to treat various diseases, will use the $75 million and capital from Chroma Medicine and Nvelop Therapeutics to develop its technology platforms and lead candidate, CRMA-1001.

CRMA-1001 is a liver-targeted epigenetic editing therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis D. According to the firm, the candidate offers robust silencing of HBV biomarkers in preclinical models, which is said to advance high functional cure rates in patients. nChroma expects to submit a clinical trial application next year.

“This union represents a compelling opportunity to bring together a truly novel and differentiated cargo company and a next generation in vivo delivery company to fully enable the future of in vivo genetic medicine. The new company will allow us to leverage the technologies, talent and capital of both organizations to drive products into the clinic and to forge strategic partnerships to expand our reach into new tissues and diseases,” said Jeff Walsh, CEO of nChroma.

“Importantly, I’d like to acknowledge everyone whose hard work and dedication have been instrumental in bringing us to where we are today, and I am excited about the future of nChroma.”

nChroma’s epigenetic editors are “unlike current editing approaches,” according to the company’s statement. The editors have a mechanism advantage by controlling gene expression without inteferring with the DNA, which eliminates the risk of activation DNA pathways and possible genomic rearrangement.

The firm said it has enough capital to provide multiple years of runway. Furthermore, the available funds will also be used to support the progression of several pipeline programs and nChroma’s non-viral delivery systems for indications beyond the liver.

The Series A financing round was led by ARCH Venture Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, Newpath Partners, and Atlas Venture. Other investors included, DCVC Bio, Google Ventures (GV), 5AM Ventures, Janus Henderson Investors, F-Prime Capital, Mubadala Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Omega Funds, T.Rowe Price, Alexandria Venture Investments, Menlo Ventures, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Sixth Street.