C4U Completed First Close of Series C Financing Round

C4U Corporation ('C4U') is pleased to announce that we have recently completed the first closing of the Series C funding round, raising a total of approximately 1.2 billion yen (7.5 million USD).
This includes funds from a third-party allotment of new shares and a grant from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under Stage 2 of its “Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem”.
In this Series C round, following the Series A round in 2021 and the Series B round in 2023, DCI Partners, Co. Ltd. takes a lead among six other investors including five new shareholders.
As a result, the cumulative funding to date, including grants, has reached approximately 4.3 billion yen (27 million USD).

With this funding and support from stakeholders, C4U will develop new treatments for intractable diseases, starting with demonstrating the safety and efficacy of a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy for primary immunodeficiency diseases utilizing CRISPR-Cas3 genome editing technology. C4U will also accelerate its efforts to expand globally, aiming to license CRISPR technology to pharma companies, CROs, research institutions and other industries. Our goal is to apply novel genome editing technology across diverse sectors.

About C4U Corporation

C4U is a biotech startup originated from the University of Osaka, and focused on the development of safe and efficient gene therapies utilizing its proprietary CRISPR-Cas3 gene editing platform. In comparison to the CRISPR-Cas9 platform, CRISPR-Cas3 presents the distinct benefits of: 1) no off-target by the higher selectivity of deletion site (improved safety); 2) efficient knockouts by the larger deletion of gene sequences; and 3) an entirely independent patent portfolio. C4U has been granted a worldwide exclusive license to CRISPR-Cas3 by the University of Osaka for use in eukaryotic cells thus simplifying sublicensing transactions which is in sharp contrast to the complex and heavily litigated CRISPR-Cas9 patent landscape.
C4U promotes the development of novel treatments for various diseases through both in-house research and collaborations with other companies, while simultaneously working to expand its CRISPR-Cas3 platform for application across a wide range of industries.
In addition, C4U has begun work on the enAsCas12f, a novel genome editing tool that offers strengths distinct from those of CRISPR-Cas3. The enAsCas12f achieves high editing efficiency despite being less than one-third size of CRISPR-Cas9, and is expected to be applied not only in in vivo gene therapy but also in fields such as agriculture and plant science. https://www.crispr4u.jp/en/