Aerska debuts with $21m seed round to push RNAi into the brain

Irish biotech Aerska has launched with $21 million in seed funding to advance RNAi medicines targeting neurological disease. The round was co-led by Age1, Backed VC and Speedinvest, with participation from Blueyard, Lingotto, Norrsken VC, Kerna, PsyMed, Saras and Ada Ventures.

The Dublin-based company is developing antibody-oligo conjugates designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and silence disease-causing genes. Aerska is starting with programs in genetic forms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, pairing its RNAi delivery platform with data science investments to sharpen patient selection.

“Neurological diseases remain one of the greatest challenges in medicine, with limited options to alter the course of disease,” said Jack O’Meara, Aerska’s chief executive. “By integrating brain shuttles with RNA therapeutics, we aim to enable precise, durable gene silencing in the CNS. We’re pairing this with a strategy to match the intervention to the right patient, at the right stage of their disease.”