Basecamp Research Raises $140M to Advance Six AI-Designed Therapy Programs

The funding will back new EDEN biological models and a push to reprogram patients’ cells inside the body. Results so far remain preclinical.

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Basecamp Research Raises $140M to Advance Six AI-Designed Therapy Programs
Basecamp Research Raises $140M to Advance Six AI-Designed Therapy Programs

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Basecamp Research has raised $140 million to push six AI-designed therapy programs toward clinical development, with its first focus on changing patients’ cells inside the body. The crucial caveat: the company’s reported results are still preclinical, and it hasn’t published results for each of the six programs. The Series C was led by S32, with NVIDIA and Anthropic’s Anthology Fund participating. Basecamp says the money will support a new generation of its EDEN biological models and development of the therapies. Its approach draws on a Trillion Gene Atlas, built from biological-data partnerships in more than 30 countries. EDEN uses those data to identify patterns, then helps design long stretches of DNA. For cell therapies, the plan is to pair that DNA with serine recombinases—enzymes that can insert it into a cell’s genome. Doing this in vivo means inside the body, instead of taking cells out, modifying them, and returning them. Basecamp says today’s cell-therapy manufacturing can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient; simplifying that process is a goal, not a demonstrated patient benefit. The lab figures are separate from results for the six programs: Basecamp reports insertion at more than 10,000 disease-related genome locations and over 90 percent tumor-cell clearance in assays. Separately, it says 97 percent of tested antimicrobial-peptide candidates showed lab activity. The next milestone is moving these therapies toward clinical work. The open question is whether program-level evidence—and ultimately patient data—will match the platform’s laboratory results.

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Basecamp Research is positioning its six-program pipeline as a test of whether AI-designed biology can move beyond lab results toward medicines. The $140 million Series C will fund new EDEN model training and development toward clinical work, with the first emphasis on inserting designed DNA into patients’ cells in vivo. That could avoid today’s costly ex-vivo cell-therapy workflow, but it remains a platform goal:...

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    S32 led the oversubscribed Series C; NVIDIA and Anthology Fund also participated.

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    Basecamp reported EDEN-assisted insertion at more than 10,000 disease-related genome locations and over 90% tumor-cell clearance in lab assays.

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    The company also reported confirmed lab activity for 97% of tested EDEN-assisted antimicrobial peptide candidates; these are separate from the six disclosed programs.

Basecamp Research has raised $140 million and disclosed a six-program pipeline for therapies designed with AI. Its first focus is reprogramming patients’ cells inside the body, while its reported results remain preclinical.

S32 led the oversubscribed Series C, joined by NVIDIA and Anthropic’s Anthology Fund. Basecamp plans to use the funding to train a new generation of its EDEN biological models and advance its therapies toward clinical development.

Endpoints News describes the six-program pipeline as a test of Basecamp’s AI. The company says it has preclinical results across multiple treatment approaches and disease areas, but has not detailed results for each of the six programs. That limits how closely the individual programs can be assessed.

How the proposed therapy would work

Basecamp says its proprietary Trillion Gene Atlas draws on biological-data partnerships in more than 30 countries. The dataset trains EDEN to recognize patterns in biology. For its proposed cell therapies, Basecamp aims to pair long DNA sequences designed with EDEN with enzymes called serine recombinases, which can insert those sequences into a cell’s genome.

In vivo means the changes would happen inside a patient’s body, rather than requiring cells to be modified outside it and then administered. Basecamp wants that method to support more sophisticated and customizable cell therapies. Those are goals for the platform, not established patient benefits.

What the lab work has shown

In January, Basecamp introduced EDEN models for programmable gene insertion. It said it had demonstrated insertion at more than 10,000 disease-related locations in the human genome. It also reported that engineered cancer-fighting cells cleared more than 90% of tumor cells in laboratory assays. Those figures describe experiments, not outcomes in patients.

The earlier work extended beyond gene insertion. Basecamp reported confirmed laboratory activity for 97% of the EDEN-assisted antimicrobial peptide candidates it tested. Peptides are small proteins; that result shows another type of design the company is exploring, rather than progress for a named program in the new pipeline.

From models toward medicines

Basecamp has appointed former Biogen executive Richard Pearce as chief business officer to expand pharmaceutical partnerships. S32 general partner Andy Conrad is joining its board. The financing and appointments give the company resources for development, but its stated next step remains moving the therapies toward clinical work.

Sources

  1. prnewswire.co.ukBasecamp Research launches world-first AI models for programmable gene insertion
  2. endpoints.newsBasecamp raises $140M Series C, unveils six-program pipeline in test of its AI
  3. prnewswire.comBasecamp Research raises $140M to advance AI-designed therapeutics

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