Helex, a therapeutics company developing a new class of targeted medicines for genetic kidney diseases, has raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by pi Ventures. The round also saw participation from Bluehill Capital, SOSV, and a global syndicate of investors.
With this round, Helex has raised over $6 million in total funding to date.
The fresh funds raised will be used for the development of Helex’s lead program for ADPKD toward IND-enabling studies, pipeline expansion leveraging its programmable LNP delivery and AI-based drug design platforms.
Founded in 2021 by Poulami Chaudhuri (CEO), Rohini Kalvakuntla (CBO), and Anirudh Nishtala (COO), Helex is a therapeutics company developing a new class of targeted medicines for genetic kidney diseases using its proprietary LNP drug delivery and AI-based drug design platforms.
The company also 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.
The company’s lead program targets Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), an inherited disorder caused primarily by mutations in the PKD1 or PKD2 genes, that affects more than 12 million people worldwide, leading to the gradual formation of kidney cysts and decline in renal function.
Poulami Chaudhuri, co-founder and CEO of Helex, said, “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.”
Roopan Aulakh, Managing Partner at pi Ventures, said, “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. 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.”
