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HelixNano is a developer of a biotechnological platform intended to help in gene delivery. The company's platform uses artificial intelligence to leverage synthetic biology to safely and reliably express trans-genes in humans for next-generation gene therapies, genome engineering and beyond, enabling healthcare industry to help cure genetic diseases.
HelixNano is a Y Combinator and venture backed biotech startup. Their mission is to solve gene delivery.
In 2019, HelixNano announced a Grant from Schmidt Futures to pursue personalized cancer vaccines. With the grant, and in collaboration with the Hacohen Lab at the Broad Institute and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy to use synthetic biology and machine learning to reduce the uncertainty of neoantigen design. The team worked to develop a method to transform any neoantigen candidate into a precision neoantigen, thereby guaranteeing an immune response and boosting efficacy.
HelixNano's strategy for generating a cancer vaccine would focus on mRNA, having it deliver a message to kill cancer cells and attract immune cells to a tumor.
In March 2020, HelixNano suspended their work on cancer vaccines in favor of working to develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. HelixNano intends to use their platform to accelerate efforts at finding a vaccine in the hopes of reducing the expected delivery time of a vaccine from 18 months to 6 months.
HelixNano's strategy for generating a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is centered on mRNA. The strategies similarities to their cancer vaccine allowed HelixNano to refocus their infrastructure rapidly. Their vaccine strategy includes developing a vaccine to work against possible mutations of SARS-CoV-2.
