Helex, a therapeutics company developing a new class of targeted medicines for genetic kidney diseases, today announced its oversubscribed $3.5 million Seed round, led by pi Ventures, with 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.

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Co-founders of Helex (left to right): Rohini Kalvakuntla, CBO, Anirudh Nishtala, COO, and Dr. Poulami Chaudhuri, CEO.

Helex is pioneering a paradigm shift in the treatment of chronic and rare kidney disorders by developing programmable non-viral lipid nanoparticle (LNP) therapeutics that deliver therapeutic cargo directly to kidney cells, a feat long regarded as one of the greatest challenges in drug delivery. By solving for delivery to the kidney, Helex opens the door to a new class of targeted, disease-modifying medicines for millions of patients who currently have no effective treatment options.

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 gradual formation of kidney cysts and decline in renal function. Today, patients with ADPKD face a devastating trajectory, often culminating in dialysis or kidney transplant. Helex aims to change that with a single dose non-viral gene editing based therapy that could halt or significantly slow disease progression.

“This is more than a new treatment; it’s a new hope,” said Dr. Poulami Chaudhuri, co-founder and CEO of Helex. “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.”

“ADPKD represents a significant unmet medical need, with current treatments limited to symptom management and not effective for all patients,” said Roopan Aulakh, Managing Partner at pi Ventures. “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.”

Helex was founded by three friends, long-time collaborators and alumni of King’s College London: Dr. Poulami Chaudhuri (CEO) brings significant expertise on non-viral delivery and solving for genetic diseases, Rohini Kalvakuntla (CBO) brings extensive business development experience and working with payers on pricing novel treatments like cell and gene therapies, and Anirudh Nishtala, (COO) brings over a decade of experience in drug development, sales and operations. 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.

“As the first investor in Helex, I’ve had the privilege of watching the founding team turn one of biotech’s hardest challenges, kidney-targeted delivery, into a real, clinically meaningful opportunity,” said Stephen Chambers, General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director at IndieBio. “By combining proprietary kidney-tropic LNPs with their AI-driven Epic-Cure™ platform, Helex is building a pipeline with the potential to transform outcomes for millions of patients with genetic kidney diseases. This is the kind of company we back at SOSV - bold, mission-driven, and capable of shaping the future of medicine.”

The new funding will support 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. The company is steadfast in building a robust franchise of renal programs that profoundly improve and impact the lives of patients.

About Helex

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. With a world-class team of scientists and drug developers, Helex operates from New York, USA, and ASPIRE BioNEST, Hyderabad, India, and is supported by Bayer Co.Lab Cambridge. For more information, visit https://www.helex.bio/.

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“This is more than a new treatment; it’s a new hope for patients with ADPKD. We’re developing a transformative therapy that will be accessible and affordable for every patient who needs it.” Dr. Poulami Chaudhuri, Co-founder and CEO, Helex