Sarepta joins investor trio in Aavanti’s $107M series A round to develop gene therapy for Friedreich’s ataxia

With $107 million in fresh series A cash, gene therapy company AavantiBio will develop a program for Friedreich’s ataxia with leadership joining from Sarepta, which joined the A round.

Co-founded by a pair of gene therapy researchers from the University of Florida, AavantiBio had subsisted on about $1.5 million, including philanthropic contributions, during roughly three years in stealth mode, President and CEO Bo Cumbo told BioCentury. But with preclinical data from three species now in place, a group comprising Perceptive Advisors, Bain Capital Life Sciences and RA Capital committed to back the company...