Gene Therapy Company AavantiBio Launches With $107 Million Series A Financing From Perceptive Advisors, Bain Capital Life Sciences, RA Capital Management and Sarepta Therapeutics

A premier syndicate of life sciences investors including Perceptive Advisors, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and RA Capital Management, together with Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., announced a $107 million Series A financing to create AavantiBio, a gene therapy company focused on transforming the lives of patients with rare genetic diseases. The private financing round includes a $15 million equity investment from Sarepta.

Alexander “Bo” Cumbo, a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive, has been appointed AavantiBio’s chief executive officer and president. Mr. Cumbo joins the company after eight years at Sarepta, where he served as chief commercial officer and executive vice president.

Headquartered in the greater Boston area, UF startup and UF Innovate | The Hub resident client AavantiBio, is co-founded by renowned gene therapy researchers Barry Byrne, M.D., Ph.D., and Manuela Corti, P.T., Ph.D., who together bring thirty years of experience to the company. AavantiBio’s lead program is in Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA), a rare inherited genetic disease that causes cardiac and central nervous system dysfunction. AavantiBio’s research efforts expand on foundational research conducted by Drs. Byrne and Corti in Friedreich’s Ataxia, among other rare genetic disorders. AavantiBio will benefit from strategic partnerships with the University of Florida’s renowned Powell Gene Therapy Center and the MDA Care Center at UF Health where Drs. Byrne and Corti maintain their research and clinical practices. Initial funding in AavantiBio was provided by GoFAR, an Italian patient advocacy group, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association Venture Philanthropy Fund.

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