Founded in 2015, Secarna Pharmaceuticals entered the antisense drug discovery and development space with the goal of addressing high unmet medical needs using a never-before-seen artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform. It is designed to select and synthesize antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against challenging or historically undruggable targets across indications. Alexander Gebauer, the company’s CEO and managing director, firmly believes that with the help of this platform, ASO therapies can become part of the new treatment paradigm alongside small molecule and antibody therapeutics. A medical doctor by training, the 30-year industry veteran has utilized his experience in the “hard core” receptor pharmacology space to take a rigorous, science-driven approach to Secarna. Gebauer also held previous roles at biopharma companies, large and small, such as Sanofi, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH. When he sat down with In Vivo, Gebauer emphasized that Secarna prioritizes speed and quality of antisense development. “We have come up with a development algorithm,” he said, “where we can, in a very short period of time, really come up with high-quality compounds.” Secarna has nearly 20 best-in-class antisense therapies in various stages of preclinical development which span across several therapeutic areas, including oncology and the central nervous system. The independent biotech is still reliant on the initial €20m seed funding raised by two German family offices.
ASO Architect Drug Discovery Platform
