Helex has raised $3.5m in an oversubscribed seed funding round spearheaded by pi Ventures to advance non-viral gene therapies for kidney diseases.

The round saw participation from SOSV, Bluehill Capital and a global investor syndicate, taking total funding to more than $6m.

Helex will use the funding to progress its autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) lead programme toward investigational new drug-enabling studies and expand its pipeline using its AI-based drug design platforms and programmable delivery.

The company plans to build a franchise of renal programmes with meaningful patient impact.

It is developing programmable non-viral lipid nanoparticle (LNP) therapies designed to deliver therapeutic cargo to kidney cells directly for rare renal and chronic disorders.

The company’s lead programme focuses on ADPKD, driven primarily by polycystic kidney disease 1 (PKD1) or PKD2 genes, affecting more than 12 million people globally and characterised by cyst formation and progressive renal decline.

Helex is advancing a single-dose, non-viral gene editing therapy intended to halt or significantly slow ADPKD progression, aiming to change current outcomes that often end in dialysis or transplant.

Helex co-founder and CEO Dr Poulami Chaudhuri 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.

“We wish to change that. 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. This seed round marks just the beginning of our journey.”

pi Ventures managing partner Roopan Aulakh added: “ADPKD represents a significant unmet medical need, with current treatments limited to symptom management and not effective for all patients. Gene therapies are emerging as one of the most promising frontiers in medicine.”