LUCA Science Announces $9.8 Million Series A Financing to Support Research and Development of Functional Mitochondria as Therapeutic Agents

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LUCA Science, a company developing functional mitochondria as therapeutic agents, an emerging platform to treat damaged tissues and organs, today announced the closing of a $9.8 million Series A financing. The funding round was led by Axil Capital Partners. Additional participating investors included Remiges Ventures, Nippon Venture Capital, Fast Track Initiative and CaHC.

Background of the fundraise and future prospects

LUCA Science is a preclinical stage*1 biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery of novel mitochondria therapy to treat diseases and injuries in multiple therapeutic areas.

Mitochondria are the power plants in our cells that produce energy for our bodies. These small intracellular organelles house cellular aerobic respiration, the process used to turn oxygen and nutrients into energy. Recent research has shown that supplying highly functional mitochondria to injured tissues helps to stimulate cell activation and restore normal function.

Myocardial and cerebral infarction are the leading causes of death in the world. In recent years, lifestyle-related diseases and aging have been drawing attention for the onset and progression of these diseases. Ischemia, which is the cause of these diseases, is a condition in which blood flow is temporarily stopped and oxygen supply to the tissues is interrupted, resulting in hypoxia. The brain and heart tissues have high energy demand and reacts very sensitively to oxygen deficiency. This makes them most susceptible to re-perfusion injury, when oxidative stress triggers cell necrosis due to mitochondrial damage, resulting in irreversible functional and tissue injury. Furthermore, dysfunction in mitochondria from genetic mutation, environmental stress, or aging is associated with a variety of diseases.

LUCA Science is developing an innovative platform of highly functional mitochondrial using proprietary technologies. LUCA Science’s mitochondria can be stored and delivered as a biopharmaceutical agent. In addition, LUCA’s unique mitochondrial engineering technology can enhance the quality and function of mitochondria, all the way from its cell source to the target site of delivery. With the functional mitochondria as a therapeutic agent to restore cellular bioenergetics in dysfunctional or damaged tissues and organs, it will be possible to treat myocardial and cerebral infarction, immune cell exhaustion from cancer and infectious diseases, and other unmet medical needs.

LUCA Science is actively collaborating with both Japanese and international academic institutions to develop clinical applications in multiple therapeutic areas. With this round of funding, the research and development of advanced drug delivery and formulation will be accelerated to realize the goal of enabling functional mitochondria as therapeutic agents.

*1 Preclinical stage is a stage in the drug development. After drug discovery research, the stability, safety, and efficacy of a drug are confirmed, and then the development and research stage is conducted before clinical research and the exploration of production technologies.

*2 Source: Global Health Estimates 2016: Deaths by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2016. Geneva, World Health Organization; 2018.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

Investors

Axil Capital Partners LLP
Nihonbashi Life Science Building 2 504
3-11-5 Nihonbashi-Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0023
JAPAN
Managing Partner: Frederick Shane

Remiges Ventures, Inc.
1601 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1100, Seattle, Washington 98101
USA
Managing Partner: Taro Inaba

Nippon Venture Capital Co., Ltd.
2-4-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-6334
Japan
President: Minoru Tagaya

Fast Track Initiative, Inc.
2F, 4-1-4 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033
Japan
CEO and Managing Partner: Hiromichi Kimura

CaHC Co., Ltd.
8-5 3 Chome, Marunouchi, Nakaku, Nagoya , Aichi 460-0002
Japan
President: Ryuji Mizuno

About LUCA Science Inc.

Name	:	LUCA Science Inc.
Headquarters	:	3-8-3, Nihonbashi Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-0023, Japan
CEO	:	Rick C. Tsai DMD, MD
Established	:	December 25^th 2018
Employees	:	12
URL	:	https://luca-science.com
Business	:	Research and development of mitochondrial biopharmaceuticals