Alida Biosciences (AlidaBio), an innovator in epigenomic research tools, proudly announces the successful completion of a $7.5 million Series A funding round. This funding, led by Genoa Ventures with participation from FusionX Ventures and Vertical Venture Partners, is complemented by two ongoing SBIR grants totaling $4 million from The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
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Additionally, AlidaBio unveils the Early Access launch of two products: the EpiPlex™ RNA Library Prep Kit and the EpiScout™ Analysis Suite. These products provide a comprehensive solution for multiplexed epitranscriptomic analysis of input-limited clinical research RNA samples, offering unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy.
Innovative Solutions for Pioneering Research
EpiPlex RNA Library Prep Kit is designed to revolutionize epitranscriptomic research by enabling unprecedented multiplexed detection of RNA modifications. This kit integrates a streamlined assay workflow with an intuitive bioinformatics platform, facilitating high-sensitivity analysis of RNA modifications.
The epitranscriptome, consisting of a diverse array of naturally occurring RNA modifications, plays a crucial role in regulating RNA biology, including RNA-protein interactions, splicing, three-dimensional RNA structure, transcript stability, intracellular trafficking, and translation.
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Traditional methods, relying on antibody-based and chemical approaches, are limited to detecting a single type of modification per assay and require high input amounts of RNA. The EpiPlex kit overcomes these limitations by using non-antibody binders (NABs), which exhibit high affinity and minimal off-target binding. This results in superior reproducibility, sensitivity, and accuracy, even with low RNA inputs. The early access launch of these products is aligned with the completion of several beta customer experiences, with customers expressing high satisfaction with the improved workflow and exceptional data quality.
“The AlidaBio EpiPlex Library Prep Kit proved to have several advantages over alternative methods,” said beta customer Dr. Daniel Kupers of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “We observed ease-of-use going from input RNA to sequence-ready libraries all in one kit, time savings and usability for situations with limited amounts of RNA, and lower background than other methods. The inclusion of bioinformatics analysis with EpiScout is also a plus, as high-quality calls are challenges with other methods.”
EpiScout Analysis Suite complements the EpiPlex kit by providing an intuitive bioinformatics platform for analyzing and visualizing complex epitranscriptomic data. This suite streamlines data interpretation and offers powerful tools for researchers to explore the multifaceted landscape of RNA modifications and multiomic integration of data sets.
Clinical Relevance and Applications
The EpiPlex kit is particularly suited for profiling multiple RNA modifications in clinical research samples where RNA input is limited. Typically, tissue samples, clinical biopsies, and other native biological materials provide small quantities of total RNA, with mRNA constituting only 1-3% of this total.
The EpiPlex kit’s high sensitivity and efficiency make it ideal for these scenarios, ensuring high-quality results from even the smallest RNA samples. This efficiency, driven by the NABs’ high affinity and specificity, ensures high-quality modification site calling without increasing sequencing depth requirements.
Series A Funding: A Milestone Achievement
The successful Series A funding for AlidaBio underscores investor confidence in the innovative approach. This funding will facilitate faster and enhanced product development, as well as a focused effort to bring the EpiPlex kit into customers’ hands, maximizing its impact in the field. “Securing this Series A funding is a testament to the groundbreaking potential of our technology,” said Dr. Gudrun Stengel, CEO of AlidaBio.
“We are excited to introduce the EpiPlex RNA Library Prep Kit and the EpiScout Analysis Suite, and to accelerate our technology development in the multiplexed RNA modification detection space. The strong support from our investors reflects our shared enthusiasm in building research tools needed to uncover new insights into RNA biology and advance the field of epitranscriptomics.”
The funding recognizes both the potential and immediate impact of AlidaBio’s solutions. “AlidaBio has created a technical yet elegant solution to uncover hidden regulatory information on RNA, scalable with current NGS technology,” said Landon Merrill, principal at Genoa Ventures. “With this technology and Dr. Stengel’s talented team, AlidaBio is poised to lead the mainstream adoption of epitranscriptomics by the genomics customer base.”
About AlidaBio
AlidaBio, founded in 2020, is revolutionizing the field of epigenomics by commercializing accessible tools that broaden the application of epitranscriptomics in life sciences. Our groundbreaking products empower researchers to concurrently analyze multiple RNA modifications with relative quantification, using RNA inputs suitable for clinically relevant samples and supported by user-friendly bioinformatics.
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