Philadelphia-based angel investor group Robin Hood Ventures (RHV) is proud to announce an initial investment in Ophidion Inc., a Pennsylvania-based private biotechnology company.
Ophidion Inc has a platform technology that acts as a Trojan horse to shuttle various cargoes across the blood-brain barrier following intravenous administration. The company is currently focused on developing a pipeline to deliver gene silencing therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including diseases of Cognitive Impairment (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease).
“This seed series is crucial in advancing the Huntington’s program through preclinical proof of concept, which would de-risk the entire platform as well as position the Huntington’s program to start the IND-enabling studies,” said Ophidion CEO Yacoub Habib.
In addition to Robin Hood Ventures, four other groups invested in Ophidion Inc. during this seed round. Those groups were: Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Delaware Crossing Investor Group, Viva Incubator Investment Management Limited, and Gaingels.
"We’re pleased to be the lead on this investment round,” said Robin Hood’s Scott Fishman. “Ophidion is built around a breakthrough technology, and while it’s a common refrain to talk about ‘game changers’ in medicine, in this case it’s no exaggeration. If borne out in testing, OCCT may literally change the lives of many thousands suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.”
Robin Hood Ventures has invested in 80 companies and two funds since it began in 1999. The organization has almost 60 active members with backgrounds in healthcare, biotech, finance, e-commerce and technology.
About Robin Hood Ventures
Robin Hood Ventures is a group of angel investors, focused on early-stage, high-growth companies in the Greater Philadelphia region. We help entrepreneurs build great companies, providing capital, mentoring, expertise and connections to help companies reach their potential. Robin Hood generally invests up to $1 million over the lifetime of a company, and collaborates with angels, institutions and VCs in our network. We invest as a single entity in businesses we know and understand, in a way that gets deals done. For more information on Robin Hood Ventures portfolio companies visit https://www.robinhoodventures.
About Ophidion
Ophidion, Inc. is a private biotechnology company with a platform technology called the Ophidion CNS Carrier Technology (OCCT), which uses a Trojan horse strategy to exploit an endogenous receptor-mediated transport system to deliver various therapeutic cargos, including biologics, into the brain for the treatment of various CNS disorders and brain malignancies. Ophidion is currently focused on developing a pipeline to deliver gene silencing therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease, as well as diseases of Cognitive Impairment (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease). The platform technology is amenable to delivering multiple classes of drugs, including small molecules and macromolecules (gene-silencing therapeutics, siRNAs, ASOs, antibodies, peptides, and other macromolecules). Ophidion owns seven issued patents, four in the US, two in Japan, and one in Europe and is prosecuting additional patents.
