Broken String Biosciences closes $15m funding round

A leading genomics company, Broken String Biosciences, has closed a $15m USD funding round to support future growth.

The finance allows the Cardiff University spinout to support further development and commercialisation of the Company’s proprietary INDUCE-seq™ DNA break mapping technology.

The company is building a technology platform to drive the development of cell and gene therapies that are safer by design, providing in situ off-target measurement in clinically relevant cells.

The Series A round was co-led by Illumina Ventures and Mérieux Equity Partners with contributions from HERAN Partners, alongside existing investors Tencent and Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures.

The funding will be used to develop Broken String’s Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based DNA break mapping platform, INDUCE-seq™, into a scalable ‘Platform as a Service’ (PaaS), expanding its capabilities beyond gene editing, broadening its market strategy and driving commercial traction.

Felix Dobbs, CEO, Broken String Biosciences, who holds an AstraZeneca-sponsored PhD in CRISPR genome editing and genomics from Cardiff University, said: “Our vision is a future where cell and gene therapies are safer, more efficient, and affordable for patients. Operating at the intersection of biology, bioinformatics and data science, our INDUCE-seq™ platform offers an unbiased, end-to-end solution for researchers to expedite and standardize their analytical processes.

“It provides essential information earlier in the drug development process, to unlock new therapeutic targets and build confidence at each step, to avoid later stage clinical failures. By developing it as a PaaS deployable product, we have the opportunity to achieve exponential market growth and deliver on the therapeutic promise of gene editing.”

Broken String Biosciences was founded by Professor Simon Reed, a specialist in cancer studies at the School of Medicine, and two students, Felix Dobbs and Patrick van Eijk.

Spun out of Cardiff University in 2020, the company completed a six-month residency at the Illumina Accelerator in Cambridge, UK, and closed a Series Seed financing of around $4m USD with investors from the UK, Germany and the US in September 2021.

The latest investment round supports the Company’s ongoing growth, including recruitment for its UK team based at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge, and establishing a US office.

Arnaud Autret, PhD, Principal, Illumina Ventures, said: “We recognise the power of Broken String Biosciences’ technology to drive advances in safer genome editing, genome biology and genetic toxicology, and optimize drug development programs. The platform has the potential to become the gold-standard solution for measuring off-target gene editing.”

Yoann Bonnamour, Investment Manager, Mérieux Equity Partners, added: “The Broken String Biosciences team has the technical expertise and resources, paired with its strong connection with a world-leading genomics research institute, to drive this platform forward and transform the way gene editing programs are designed and developed.”

And Raf Roelands, Investment Director, HERAN Partners, added: “The team has made impressive progress since its seed funding round in 2021, successfully demonstrating that the platform addresses the market’s need and generates repeat revenues across a portfolio of partners. This new funding will enable the technology to be developed and delivered to meet the needs of all customers, ideally positioning the company for significant growth.”

To learn more about Broken String Biosciences, visit www.brokenstringbio.com