Fuse Vectors has raised $5.2 million in pre-seed financing to “revolutionize gene therapy development with its cell-free viral vector technology”.
The funding was led by HCVC, an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm. The Danish biotech plans to use the funds to advance its Fuse technology and develop its pipeline of gene therapy candidates. The company boasts that “with its breakthrough approach, Fuse Vectors aims to be the universal solution for AAV gene therapy development, delivering unmet patient needs and expanding the accessibility of gene therapy to a wider range of indications”.
“Fuse Vectors’ cell-free Fuse Technology offers significant improvements, reducing production time and costs while enhancing vector quality to meet patients’ unmet needs,” said Benjamin Blaha, co-founder of Fuse Vectors. “The enzymatic AAV capsid filling process eliminates cell-based AAV production, using efficient technologies storing components in a module library. This allows on-demand, controlled biocatalytic reactions to fill capsids and works across all serotypes.”
How does the Fuse technology work?
According to the company, instead of relying on living cells’ unpredictable behavior, Fuse’s technology assembles viral vectors through controlled biochemical reactions. This allows for “unprecedented precision”, achieving over 99% filled capsids synthesized in hours rather than weeks.
Adding, “the partners simply provide a gene sequence, and Fuse’s streamlined process packages it into an AAV vector – enabling faster, higher-quality development with minimal setup”. The platform’s modular nature enables rapid optimization through multi-parallel prototyping, making it significantly more efficient than traditional methods.
Fuse Vectors is currently in alpha testing, with the company collaborating with “over half a dozen partners – from academic research groups to leading pharmaceutical companies”. The company also shared its commercialization plans, noting that it “intends to partner with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and academic institutions to optimize drug candidates using their Fuse Technology and Optimization Engine, while also developing their own pipeline of therapeutic candidates”.
Fuse Vectors’ co-founder and Executive Chair, Henrik Stage stated: “This investment from HCVC is a pivotal step for Fuse Vectors, bringing our pre-seed financing to €5 million (approx. $5.25 million). We are excited to work towards our vision of making gene therapy more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible, and are grateful for the early support and financing received from BioInnovation Institute, EIFO and Innovation Fund during our ideation and start-up phase.”
“Fuse Vectors’ approach to gene therapy has the potential to make gene therapy much more interesting for the Industry to develop as well as increase accessibility to patients,” stated Trine Bartholdy, CBO of BioInnovation Institute, an international non-profit foundation supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Adding, “their start-up development exemplifies BII’s commitment to empowering innovative platform technologies based on world-class scientific research to grow into successful companies capable of making meaningful impact on the future of gene therapy and human health.”
