Last Stop Biotech

Addition Therapeutics has come out of the shadows with a major announcement: $100 million in financing from big investors, including Pivotal Life Science, SR One, the Gates Foundation, Abingworth, Osage University Partners, and BEVC.

Using its all-RNA, non-viral LNP-based PRINT™ (Precise RNA-Mediated Insertion of Transgenes) platform, Addition is developing safer, durable, one-time genetic therapies that overcome the limitations of existing modalities. Its growing pipeline of PRINTed therapeutics has the potential to reshape treatment for chronic and rare diseases, with initial disease-relevant non-human primate (NHP) studies expected in 2026.

CEO of Addition Ron Mark had this to say –

“Our bold vision at Addition Therapeutics is to achieve genomic medicine’s powerful, long-held promise for patients and forge new frontiers for what’s possible in the treatment of disease,” said Ron Park, M.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer at Addition. “Bolstered by our team of top-tier scientists and engineers and our high-caliber investors, we have built a world-class technology platform and a pipeline of novel chronic and rare disease programs. Today, we’re excited to start sharing our progress and momentum.”

Founded on the pioneering research of Professor Kathleen Collins at UC Berkeley, Addition spun out from her laboratory. Professor Collins is a leading expert in retrotransposase biology and a former Head of the Division of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology. She holds the endowed Walter and Ruth Schubert Family Chair. The company’s PRINT technology builds on her expertise. Platform development was supported by the Bakar Fellows Program entrepreneurship funding and an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. Addition was seeded by Pivotal Life Sciences after its formation at UC Berkeley.

The premise of Addition is that the field of genetic medicine has long been based on CRISPR and viral vector technologies. These technologies carry risks, such as CRISPR, which makes double-stranded DNA cuts, where technical errors, such as off-target edits, can cause large DNA deletions or rearrangements. Viral vectors can trigger an immune response or insert genes at random. Addition’s platform addresses key limitations of existing genetic medicine approaches, including immune activation, off-target effects, and complex DNA delivery. Ongoing support from the Bakar Fellows Program has played a critical role in evolving Collins’ vision from a bold academic concept into a promising therapeutic program.

Printed Medicines and Retrotransposase

PRINTed medicines leverage the natural process of retrotransposition, in which a retrotransposase encoded within the therapy converts a template RNA—containing the genetic sequence of interest and a proprietary structured RNA element that enables PRINTing—into a DNA transgene. This transgene is precisely and efficiently inserted into a highly conserved ribosomal DNA safe-harbor locus, enabling stable gene integration without disrupting endogenous genes or cellular function. PRINTed medicines are delivered using a clinically validated lipid nanoparticle (LNP) system with demonstrated low immunogenicity. As a true plug-and-play platform, only the genetic payload within the template RNA changes across PRINTed medicines, while all other components remain constant.

Addition’s PRINT technology builds on Dr. Collin’s expertise in retrotransposase and her lab’s research. At UC Berkeley, her team identified a non-viral reverse transcriptase (RT) with therapeutic potential. Typically, RT enables retroviruses like HIV to convert their RNA to DNA and infect host genomes. Using non-viral RT with mRNA drugs is the breakthrough that Addition Therapeutics aims to achieve.

LOOKING AHEAD

Addition has not yet publicly detailed its disease targets, but the company positions its platform as transformative for the treatment of chronic and rare diseases, with preclinical studies anticipated to commence next year.