Camena Bioscience raises $10m scale-up funding

Camena Bioscience, a synthetic biology company providing genes to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, has closed a $10 million Series A round led by Mercia. 

The Cambridge company will use the funding to scale operations and continue development of its pioneering DNA synthesis platform, gSynth. Camena says it is the first company to offer this “unique and highly accurate enzyme-based DNA synthesis technology.”

The company has already signed commercial agreements with leading consumers of synthetic genes, securing a multi-million-pound revenue stream over the previous year.

Synthetic genes are widely used by researchers to understand the mechanisms of disease and in the drug discovery process to combat them. However, the cost, time and accuracy of traditional DNA synthesis methods developed in the 1980s remains problematic, particularly when creating long or complex sequences of genes. 

Camena’s technology is said to overcome these limitations by using a wholly novel enzymatic technology to accurately produce synthetic DNA.

Camena’s CEO and co-founder is Steve Harvey – a leader in genomics research – and the CSO and co-founder is Derek Stemple, a world-renowned molecular biologist and previously a co- founder of TwistDX which was acquired by Alere (now a part of Abbott) in 2010.

Harvey said: “We are delighted to have closed this latest round of funding with Mercia, which provides further validation of Camena’s approach. The ability to read, write and manipulate DNA is the foundation of the synthetic biology value chain, yet developments in DNA synthesis have not kept pace with DNA sequencing and editing capabilities. 

“Camena’s gSynthTM platform is revolutionising the DNA synthesis market by unlocking access to genes and accelerating discovery pipelines.

“As the focus on sustainability and supply-chain security become more acute, Camena is leading the way with a green synthesis technology and is already well positioned to serve this burgeoning market. 

”The invention of next-generation DNA sequencing technologies transformed our ability to “read” DNA. Our goal is to enable our customers to ‘write’ DNA with the same confidence and ease.”

Lee Lindley, a member of Mercia’s investment team, has joined Camena’s board as part of the financing. Also joining the board is Aditya Rajagopal –founder and CTO of ChromaCode, Inc., a commercial stage diagnostics company focused on developing highly scalable and affordable cancer tests. 

He is also the co-founder and executive chairman of Esperto Medical, a venture-backed company building non-invasive vital sign monitors.