Piezo Therapeutics has emerged as the latest startup focused on the delivery of nucleic acids, launching with $2 million in seed funding and a platform that combines electric pulses and microneedles.
The Atlanta-based company is based on work at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2021, a team at Georgia Tech published a paper about a device that used a piezoelectric pulse generator to break down cell membranes, enabling a DNA COVID-19 vaccine administered via a microneedle patch to reach its target and induce an immune response in mice.
Electroporation, the process enabled by the pulse generator, underpins the delivery technology that biotechs including Inovio Pharmaceuticals use to administer DNA vaccine candidates. However, the Georgia Tech team sought to expand use by creating a battery-free system that costs less than $1.
Piezo has picked up the baton from the Georgia Tech team. Armed with $2 million in seed funding from Open Philanthropy, the startup plans to improve on both the lipid nanoparticles used to deliver mRNA vaccines and the electroporation technology used in the administration of DNA by reducing complexity, lowering costs and improving stability.
Gaurav Byagathvalli, one of the authors of the Georgia Tech paper, co-founded Piezo and has taken up the CEO post at the startup. Byagathvalli outlined the opportunity Piezo hopes to address in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has enabled incredible advances in mRNA vaccines and potential for future RNA therapeutics. However, these RNA-based medicines still face challenges with manufacturing, thermostability, safety, and access. Piezo has a unique opportunity to address these challenges with a simple, affordable, and scalable platform enabling further translation of RNA, DNA, and other therapeutics,” Byagathvalli said.
Tested in small animals, the Georgia Tech system achieved similar immune responses to intramuscular injections given without electroporation at 10 times the dose. Piezo is initially focusing on vaccines but also sees scope to apply the technology to nucleic acid therapeutics.