Dubai-based CE-Ventures has invested in Aptadir Therapeutics as part of a €40 million seed funding round, one of the largest biotech seed raises in Italy's history and among the biggest in Europe.
Aptadir is a preclinical biotechnology company working on RNA-based therapies built around molecules it calls DNMTs Interacting RNAs, or DiRs. The technology is designed to block abnormal DNA methylation, a process that switches genes off, with the goal of restoring normal gene function in conditions long considered irreversible.
What the funding will support
The capital raised will help push Aptadir's lead programme, CAP1-FMR1, toward clinical development. That programme targets Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic condition linked to intellectual disability, learning difficulties and developmental delays. The round will also fund additional programmes in other genetic disorders and in oncology.
Dr. Giovanni Amabile, CEO and founder of Aptadir Therapeutics, described the company's approach as an attempt to change how genetic disease is treated. "At Aptadir, we are pioneering a fundamentally new therapeutic approach aimed at reversing disease-causing epigenetic silencing and restoring the expression of genes that have been switched off," he said. "This has the potential to transform the way we treat genetic diseases that, until now, have been considered irreversible."
Scientific roots and Dubai's stake
Aptadir's scientific foundations were developed by researchers affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Italy's National Research Council, the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, and City of Hope National Medical Center.
For CE-Ventures, the investment extends a growing biotech portfolio. Tushar Singhvi, deputy CEO and head of investments at Crescent Enterprises, said the firm "continues to expand its biotech portfolio by backing leading technologies with the potential to deliver therapies for areas of greatest unmet medical need."
Dr. Damir Illich, vice president for life sciences at CE-Ventures, pointed to the therapeutic promise of the underlying science. "Aptadir's technology has the potential to transform the treatment of diseases that have previously been beyond the reach of existing therapeutic approaches," he said.
The deal adds to Dubai investors' presence in international life sciences, with CE-Ventures placing capital behind a European biotech tackling gene silencing at its molecular root rather than treating symptoms alone. As Aptadir moves CAP1-FMR1 through preclinical work toward the clinic, the round signals continued interest from Gulf-based investors in early-stage biotech with global scientific backing.
Reported by Khaleej Times.
