Suono Bio develops an ultra-rapid, localized delivery platform that enables administration of small molecules, biologics, nucleic acids and gene therapies without encapsulation. The technology was developed in Professor Robert Langer’s laboratory at MIT and the company was founded by Professor Langer, Professor Giovanni Traverso and Dr. Carl Schoellhammer. Suono Bio is advancing lead programs in inflammatory bowel disease and is developing a first product for ulcerative colitis that the company intends to ready for human trials. Proceeds from the recent financing will be used to complete development of that first product and expand the company’s pipeline. The company has previously received strategic investments from FUJIFILM Corporation and NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd., and its platform has been described in publications including Nature and Science Translational Medicine. Suono Bio is based in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Suono Bio is developing a second-generation platform for ultra-rapid, formulation-independent delivery of therapeutics to the gastrointestinal tract, including small molecules, biologics, nucleic acids and gene therapies. The technology was developed in the laboratory of MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer. The company was founded by Professor Robert Langer, Professor Giovanni Traverso and Dr. Carl Schoellhammer. Suono Bio says the platform enables rapid, local administration of therapeutics without the need for encapsulation. Management indicated the strategic investment will help advance the platform toward clinical development. The company previously announced a strategic investment from FUJIFILM in 2018 and had seed funding from The Engine in 2017. Suono Bio is developing a second-generation platform for ultra-rapid, localized administration of therapeutics without the need for encapsulation. The platform is formulation-independent and designed to deliver small molecules, biologics, nucleic acids and gene therapies at clinically-relevant doses. The company has demonstrated pre-clinical activity across a range of diseases using diverse therapeutics. Suono Bio leverages technology developed in the laboratory of MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer and is focused on inflammatory-mediated diseases. Leadership and founders include Professor Langer, Dr. Giovanni Traverso, Amy Schulman (executive chair) and Dr. Carl Schoellhammer (founding CEO). The company is backed by Polaris Partners, MIT’s The Engine and MedTech Venture Partners and is based in Cambridge, Mass. Suono Bio develops ultrasound-based drug-delivery technology that uses low-frequency ultrasound to create bubbles in a liquid drug solution that implode and generate jets to push drugs into targeted tissues. The system pairs a device that emits low-frequency ultrasound with drugs in liquid form to physically propel therapeutics to specific sites, a process the CEO says should be pain-free. Suono is initially focusing on therapies for gastrointestinal diseases, where localized delivery could avoid degradation in the digestive tract or the need for systemic injections. The company also envisions enabling delivery of delicate DNA or RNA therapies that are otherwise hard to administer. Suono recently closed a seed round worth a few million dollars with participation from MIT's new $170 million fund The Engine and Polaris. The funding will be used to prepare the technology for human trials, which CEO Carl Schoellhammer (age 30) expects to begin within the next 12 months.

Total raised

$9M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Jul 2021