Entrada Therapeutics, an Ohio State startup, gets new funding

Entrada Therapeutics Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, created at the Ohio State University, has announced that it has received an investment of $116 this week. The startup is dedicated to treating diseases by delivering drugs into target cells. The new investment will help the company in the treatment of multiple neuromuscular diseases, led by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

The company co-founded by Dehua Pei, Charles H. Kimberly Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Ohio State; when founded,it raised $59 million from investors. It is by far the largest amount raised in the initial round of financing for an Ohio State startup.

"Drug delivery has always been the challenge. Companies have always been limited by what they can do if a targeted approach is what they are going after," Pei said. "There has really been a lot of incentive to find a way to get access to this 80% of undruggable targets. That really has been the focus of my research as well as that of many other folks around the world."

"People now recognize that this is the way to do it and that this has true potential. That's very important for us in terms of boosting our own confidence," he said. With the new round of funding, the company will be able to take current drug candidates into the clinic. The goal is to showcase the technology can work in and benefit patients.Pei hopes that this technology's early success, along with the investment in the company he co-founded, will serve as an inspiration to students and emerging researchers at Ohio State.