News

Seven people in a group sitting together

New in vivo gene editing biotech blossoms from CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna’s lab with $82M

A new West Coast biotech has emerged into the busy in vivo cell therapy space, this time with the backing of Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D. Azalea Therapeutics has bloomed with $82 million in funding and a dual-vector approach that the company hopes can enable permanent genome editing with a single dose. The funding total includes a $65 million series A that was led by Third Rock Ventures, with RA Capital Management, Yosemite and Sozo Ventures joining the financing bouquet.

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Keylika founders, Buddha Chaudhuri, CEO (left) and Frederik Ceyssens, CTO (right)

Keylika Develops World’s First Buccal Patch for Iron Deficiency Anemia

“Most people have no idea how debilitating iron deficiency anemia can be. As a critical micronutrient, iron has a foundational role to play in multiple biological processes in the body down to the cellular level, its uncorrected deficiency has far-reaching consequences,” says Buddha Chaudhuri, Ph.D., CEO of Biotech company, Keylika. After years working on drug delivery and medical devices, Keylika’s team has pioneered what could be a breakthrough solution: the world’s first buccal (oral) patch for treating iron deficiency. Read post

Bootstrapped Indian Startup Innovating Treatment for Eczema, Itch & Beyond

When personal health challenges inspire innovation, remarkable solutions can emerge. Such is the story behind NistuHeal, a breakthrough dermocosmetic product addressing eczema and chronic itch. After suffering from relentless eczema for a decade, Buddhadev "Buddha" Chaudhuri, Ph.D. and CEO of Keylika, turned his scientific expertise toward creating a better treatment. What began as a kitchen experiment has evolved into a successful family-run enterprise delivering relief to thousands across India. Read post
Picture of GigaCorp members

Forbes: A Possible Step-Change for Plant Growth By Upgrading Photosynthesis

GigaCrop was founded by CEO Chris Eiben in 2020 as part of a fellowship with the Berkeley Lab Cyclotron Road program in partnership with non-profit Activate funded by the U.S. DOE., and today (March 11th 2025) they announced $4.5 million of pre-seed round funding led by a venture capital group in California called Playground Global. Read post
Three people standing in front of a Cyclarity banner

PitchBook Report – Emerging Space Brief: Longevity Tech

Standout deals include NewLimit’s $72.3 million raise to advance epigenetic rejuvenation and Cyclarity Therapeutics’ $10.3 million round to push forward its senolytic platform. Despite regulatory gray areas and a long road to clinical validation, momentum is building as longevity biotech shifts from speculative science to a potential cornerstone of future healthcare. Read post
Representative images of Netherton Syndrome mice treated daily with either standard of care (left) or RVB-003 (right). Mice treated with RVB-003 show resolution of excessive protease activity, normalization of inflammation, marked reduction in epidermal hyperplasia, and ultimately a restoration of a healthy skin barrier.

ResVita Bio Announces RVB-003 granted Orphan Drug Designation for Netherton Syndrome by the FDA

ResVita Bio, a therapeutics company focused on treatments for skin diseases, today announced that the FDA awarded the Orphan Drug Designation to RVB-003 for the treatment of Netherton Syndrome, a chronic and life-threatening skin disorder. This milestone, following the FDAs previous granting of the Rare Pediatric Disease Designation, underscores the impact of ResVita Bio's new platform for continuous protein therapy—a groundbreaking therapeutic approach designed to deliver sustained drug levels directly to the skin, supporting both greater efficacy and improved safety over other topicals. Read post
mother with her child in a farm

Verinomics Introduces Transgene-Free Gene Editing and Genomic-Driven Accelerated Breeding Platforms for Specialty Crops

Verinomics, a leader in agricultural genomics and gene editing, today unveiled two breakthrough platforms designed to accelerate specialty crop innovation: Genesis™, a transgene-free gene editing platform, primarily for vegetatively propagated crops and Genova™, a genomic-driven breeding acceleration platform for both seed and vegetatively propagated crops. Together, these technologies streamline trait discovery and product development, delivering high-value, market-ready crops faster than ever before. Read post
aikium

Breaking the ‘Undruggable’ Barrier with AI and Synthetic Biology: Eswar Iyer, CEO of Aikium

For decades, drug developers have struggled with so-called "undruggable" proteins—those regions of the proteome that evade traditional small molecules and antibodies. But Aikium, led by Eswar Iyer, could be changing the game. In today’s show, Iyer, a prolific scientist with over 100 patents and a background in George Church’s lab, shares how his company is tackling one of the toughest challenges in therapeutics. Read post

At Biotech’s Biggest Conference, UC Berkeley Shows Off Startups

In a way, biotech startup Editpep’s story is one faced by many new life sciences companies in a tough funding environment; in a way, too, it is so Berkeley. Co-founded by University of California, Berkeley postdoctoral researcher looking at ways to cure genetic diseases, an MBA student and a scientific disciple of CRISPR gene-editing technology pioneer Jennifer Doudna, Editpep last month secured an $8.4 million seed financing to take on pediatric brain cancer and other brain diseases. Read post
Three people standing in front of a Cyclarity banner

Cyclarity Therapeutics Secures Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Trial

Cyclarity Therapeutics is pleased to announce regulatory approval to begin its first-in-human clinical trial. The trial will be conducted at CMAX, one of Australia’s leading clinical research centers, in partnership with Monash University. This effort will be led by Dr. Stephen Nicholls of the Victorian Heart Institute (VHI), a distinguished leader in cardiovascular medicine. In addition to a traditional SAD/MAD phase 1 trial, the authorization includes an allowance to enroll 12 patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) to assess the safety of UDP-003 in individuals with plaque buildup, as well as to explore anecdotal evidence of efficacy. This represents a critical first step in evaluating the potential impact of our therapy in a population with high unmet need. Read post
Clockwise from top left: Shakked Halperin, Tim Craven, the Profluent team, the Radar team, members of HOPO Therapeutics

Looking Forward to 2025 from Our Top Five Stories of 2024

Happy new year! At Bakar Labs we’re looking forward to a great 2025, starting of course with the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in SF. Other highlights in the near future: the return of our JETRO entrepreneurs from Japan; the rollout of the Bakar Climate Labs pilot program (look for our web story on Futurebio, our first climate tech tenant); if you’re at the BIO International Convention in Boston, look for our team, we’ll be there. You can count on our September Showcase and our November anniversary party to be bangers. Community is our #1 asset. Thank you for being part of it! Read post

Startup ResVita Bio Targets Rare, Deadly Skin Disease With a Bacterial Factory

Amin Zargar literally put skin in his scientific game. Now he hopes to add a deeper layer of funding to his East Bay startup to boost its work on a treatment for a rare and deadly skin disease. Zargar as a postdoctoral fellow was on an academic track and looking for a job as he stress-tested an idea kicked around with mentor Jay Keasling, a pioneer in synthetic biology at UC Berkeley. What if, they thought, they could genetically engineer a bacteria to convert sugars in skin lotions into therapeutic proteins continuously pumped onto the skin's surface? In essence, the bacteria would become a 24/7 factory for producing healing proteins. Read post