Led · Equity · Apr 2024

Pierrepont Therapeutics is focused on developing targeted treatments for primary mitochondrial and other rare genetic diseases. Its lead product candidate, PTI-501 (formerly ENTR-501), is a proprietary intracellular enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of MNGIE, exclusively licensed from Entrada Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRDA). The company is based in Pittsburgh, PA. Founders including Daniel DiPietro have expertise and success in mitochondrial disease drug development and maintain relationships with KOLS, families, and patient advocacy groups in the mitochondrial disease community. The company intends to use newly raised funds to expand operations and its R&D sector. Pierrepont recently raised $500K in funding from The Mito Fund.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2022

NAPIGEN develops proprietary technology to edit mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes for applications across plants, microbes, and animals. Its core product is organellar genome editing tools, with demonstrated use in yeast, algae, and plant mitochondria. The company plans to apply its mitochondrial gene editing technology for hybrid seed production in wheat and rice and to develop mitochondrial expression systems useful for plant mitochondria. NAPIGEN positions its approach as a solution to the challenge of delivering RNA or DNA into organelles that have been difficult to target with conventional CRISPR methods. The company has received support from the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation and an NIH SBIR award to advance human mitochondrial DNA editing. It completed a $7.85 million seed financing to advance its technology and expand applications in agriculture, industrial biotechnology, and human healthcare.