Bionaut Labs is working to deploy tiny robots into the human body. While it may sound like something out of Marvel’s Ant-Man, the company’s solution could be used to treat brain diseases in hard-to-reach locations.
Bionaut Labs has developed remote-controlled micro-robots that can deliver drug therapies to various parts of a person’s body. Using magnetic propulsion, these minuscule devices can reach the midbrain, the part of the brainstem responsible for vision, hearing, motor control and other functions.
The LA-based biotech company announced Monday that it had raised $43 million in Series B funding to enhance its treatment solution.
Bionaut’s solution is growing in necessity in time with the aging population. Its robots can treat conditions like Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Many such diseases that affect the brain and central nervous system have historically proven difficult to treat due to the complexities of delivering drugs beyond the brain’s protective blood barrier and accurately reaching deep locations within the body.
Thanks to its new capital, Bionaut Labs will be able to further its treatment solution. The company is aiming to expand its clinical targets by progressing through two accelerated FDA designations. Bionaut Labs will also invest in advancing development of its lead programs against malignant glioma brain tumors and Dandy-Walker Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder in children.
“There has been a dearth of innovation around treatments for conditions that cause tremendous suffering, in large part because past failures have discouraged even the best of researchers,” Michael Shpigelmacher, co-founder and CEO of Bionaut Labs, said in a statement. “Bionaut Labs remains committed to finding new ways to treat these devastating diseases, which are long overdue for a breakthrough.”
Its latest raise brings Bionaut Labs’ total venture funding to $63.2 million. The company aims to initiate human clinical trials in 2024.
