Epitome Therapeutics Raises $4.4M for Epigenome Editing

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-30

Vienna-based Epitome Therapeutics, a BioTech company pushing the boundaries of precision epigenome editing, just announced a total funding of approximately $4.4 million. This cash injection will help advance their development programs and grow their team. ### The Funding Breakdown The pre-seed round is a mix of equity and grants. It includes an oversubscribed $2.2 million pre-seed round and another $2.2 million in non-dilutive grant funding. The round was co-led by XISTA Science Ventures and Caesar Ventures, with additional participation from Navec Venture Holding GmbH. ### What They're Building Founded in 2025 as a spin-off from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Epitome Therapeutics is working on a new therapeutic approach. It's all about precise regulation of gene expression. Think of it like a dimmer switch for your genes, not just an on/off button. Their proprietary platform, called CADENCE, enables precise, durable, and calibrated activation of gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. That's a big deal. Most gene editing tools focus on silencing genes, but many diseases actually need genes to be turned up or fine-tuned. ### The Team Behind the Science Dr. Guido Gualdoni, co-founder and CEO, said, "We are launching Epitome Therapeutics with the support of a strong group of investors and partners." He added that the oversubscribed financing is a strong endorsement of both their team and the CADENCE platform's potential. Their immediate focus is advancing the platform, expanding the team, and working toward selecting their first drug candidate. ### Why This Matters Recent advances have highlighted the potential of gene silencing, but many diseases require restoring or increasing gene activity. There's a real need for therapeutic approaches that offer more precise control. Epitome's modular architecture, built around a library of engineered epigenetic effectors, is designed to tailor gene activation to specific biological contexts. The goal is greater precision, flexibility, and safety than earlier approaches. ### The Bigger Picture This $4.4 million pre-seed financing fits into a broader European BioTech funding environment in 2026. Capital is flowing into early-stage therapeutic platforms, gene and cell therapy infrastructure, RNA-related approaches, and AI-enabled drug discovery. Other notable deals this year include: - TRIMTECH Therapeutics (Cambridge) raised about $45 million for its neurodegenerative disease platform. - iDEL Therapeutics secured roughly $9.9 million for cancer therapeutics. - Tozaro (Bedford, UK) announced a $7.6 million round for cell and gene therapy manufacturing. - Ternary Therapeutics raised about $4.5 million for molecular-glue drug discovery. These deals show continued investor appetite for platform-based biotech companies developing next-generation therapeutic technologies. ### Investor Confidence Alexander Schwartz, Partner at XISTA Science Ventures, said, "We were impressed by the breakthrough nature of Epitome Therapeutics' approach to epigenome editing, especially its focus on targeted upregulation." He added they're delighted to support the company as it achieves its first development milestones and as the field continues to gain momentum. ### What's Next Epitome Therapeutics' immediate focus is clear: advance the CADENCE platform, expand the team, and work toward selecting their first drug candidate. With strong investor backing and a unique approach to gene regulation, this is a company to watch in the precision medicine space.