DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Taysha Gene Therapies, a patient-centric gene therapy company with a mission to eradicate monogenic CNS disease, today announced that it has closed an oversubscribed $95 million Series B financing with a premier syndicate of life science investors, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC. Additional new investors include funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Invus, Casdin Capital, Franklin Templeton, Octagon Capital, Perceptive Advisors LLC, Sands Capital, ArrowMark Partners and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. Also participating in the round were founding investors PBM Capital and Nolan Capital. Proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to advance the initial cohort of lead programs into the clinic, accelerate progress on anticipated IND submissions, build a commercially scalable GMP manufacturing facility and continue development of the company’s extensive portfolio of potentially curative gene therapies in partnership with the UT Southwestern Gene Therapy Program.
“This significant investment from premier, long-term investors will allow us to advance our mission of eradicating monogenic CNS disease for the thousands of patients who suffer from these devastating disorders,” said RA Session II, President, CEO and Founder of Taysha. “We remain on track and expect to file four Investigational New Drug (IND) applications by the end of 2021, with TSHA-101 initiating clinical studies later this year for the treatment of GM2 Gangliosidosis.”
Taysha is currently developing a deep and sustainable pipeline of 17 gene therapy product candidates, with exclusive options to acquire four additional programs across three distinct franchises, including neurodegenerative diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders and genetic forms of epilepsy. TSHA-101 is expected to initiate clinical studies later this year for the treatment of GM2 Gangliosidosis, followed by TSHA-102 for the treatment of Rett syndrome, TSHA-103 for the treatment of SLC6A1 haploinsufficiency disorder and TSHA-104 for the treatment of SURF1 deficiency. Taysha expects to file INDs for each of these four product candidates by the end of 2021.
“We have brought together experts in gene therapy with leading healthcare and institutional investors to create a company that is uniquely positioned to advance the development of potentially curative gene therapies for CNS disease in rare and large patient populations,” said Sean Nolan, Chairman of the Board of Taysha. “We believe this financing provides significant validation of our corporate strategy and will enable us to continue to rapidly translate programs from preclinical development into the clinic.”
About Taysha Gene Therapies
Taysha Gene Therapies is a patient-centric gene therapy company with a mission to eradicate monogenic CNS disease. We are focused on developing and commercializing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the CNS in both rare and large patient populations. We were founded in partnership with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, or UT Southwestern, to develop and commercialize transformative gene therapy treatments. Together with UT Southwestern, we are advancing a deep and sustainable product portfolio of 17 gene therapy product candidates, with exclusive options to acquire four additional development programs. By combining our management team’s proven experience in gene therapy drug development and commercialization with UT Southwestern’s world-class gene therapy research capabilities, we believe we have created a powerful engine to develop transformative therapies to dramatically improve patients’ lives. More information is available at www.tayshagtx.com.
