Ice Miller represented two cutting-edge gene therapy companies—Nionyx Bio and Helex—in securing a combined $7.5 million in seed financing to advance their mission-critical research and development efforts in precision therapeutics for kidney diseases.

Nionyx Bio recently closed a lead-round of approximately $4 million in seed financing, led by 2048 Ventures and joined by Empire State Development (NY Ventures), White Mug Healthcare, AIN Ventures, and Pathway Bioventures. The funding will support the expansion of Nionyx’s proprietary AAV-based delivery platform (Kidney Atlas), the advancement of its gene cassette technologies, and the growth of its team and infrastructure to bring targeted kidney gene therapies closer to clinical development.

Helex secured $3.5 million in its most recent seed round, led by pi Ventures, with participation from Bluehill Capital, SOSV, and a global syndicate of investors. With this round, Helex has raised over $6 million in total funding to date. Helex is developing a new class of non-viral, kidney-targeted therapies using its proprietary LNP delivery and AI-based drug-design platforms to address genetic kidney diseases such as autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

Ice Miller Business partners TaeSoo Sean Kim and Dann Bruno represented Helex and Nionyx in the financing, with assistance from associate Zenas Shi. Our Life Sciences practice group has extensive experience working with start-ups to help them with seed-stage funding, intellectual property procurement and counseling, and licensing and strategic alliances.