Princeton, New Jersey-based Optimeos Life Sciences has announced an investment from Hatch BioFund, an early-stage life sciences venture capital firm headquartered at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to advance its non-viral nanoparticle gene therapy delivery platform. The investment amount was not disclosed. The financing is intended to support development of Optimeos' proprietary Coated Inverse Nanocarriers platform and advance its lead program in the rare metabolic disease citrullinemia type 1 (CTLN1), alongside additional pipeline programs in T cell engineering and targeted pulmonary delivery.
The transaction is a private venture capital investment with no named co-investors, placement agents, or underwriters. Hatch BioFund's strategic partners — which include Daiichi Sankyo, Brandywine Realty Trust, the Hepatitis B Foundation, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, and B+labs at Cira Centre — provide portfolio companies with access to infrastructure and industry expertise, though these entities are partners of the fund rather than direct investors in this round.
Optimeos is a Princeton University spinout developing a non-viral intracellular delivery platform for therapeutic macromolecules, including RNA, DNA, and proteins. The platform is based on a patented process called Coated Inverse Nanocarriers, developed and refined over two decades in the laboratory of Princeton University Professor Emeritus Robert Prud'homme. The technology enables scalable encapsulation of diverse payload types — biologics, peptides, RNA, and DNA — with encapsulation efficiencies reported to exceed 90%. The platform is designed to offer modular tissue targeting, tunable immunogenicity, and a differentiated dosing profile compared with conventional lipid nanoparticle systems.
Optimeos' lead program is a gene replacement therapy for CTLN1, a rare urea cycle disorder caused by deficiency of the enzyme argininosuccinate synthetase 1. Beyond the CTLN1 program, the company is advancing programs in in vivo CAR-T cell engineering and targeted pulmonary applications, positioning the CINC platform as a multi-indication delivery engine. The company has previously entered into technology licensing agreements with six undisclosed pharmaceutical companies and established a research partnership with Integral Molecular in 2022 focused on antibody-based targeting of mRNA and DNA therapeutics to specific tissues. Non-dilutive government funding has also supported the platform, including NIH and NSF grants totaling approximately USD 811,000 across multiple awards.