20 March 2024 – Kirchner Group is pleased to announce that it acted as a scientific advisor to the Alaska Permanent Fund during their due diligence process related to the recently announced Kenai Therapeutics, Inc. $82M Series A financing.

Kenai Therapeutics, is a biotechnology company leveraging induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to discover and develop a platform of allogeneic neuron replacement cell therapies for neurological disorders. According to the announcement the funding was co-led by Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, Cure Ventures and The Column Group, with participation from Euclidean Capital and Saisei Ventures. Proceeds from the financing will enable the Company to submit an IND for RNDP-001 and complete Phase 1 clinical trials, which will initiate within the year.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) was created by the Alaska Legislature in 1980 as a quasi-independent state entity tasked with the important mission of prudently investing and managing the assets of the Alaska Permanent Fund.  The Fund’s total assets are approximately $80 billion and are invested across a broad range of assets including equities, fixed income, alternatives and real estate.

“We are honored to provide our technical and scientific expertise to support diligence efforts of leading Investors that are supporting truly game-changing innovations,” stated Blair Kirchner of Kirchner Group. “This is just one of our full suite of services supporting stakeholders across the entire company and portfolio lifecycle from start up through to exit.”

Kirchner Group is also proud to note their previous similar roles in fundraises by Tessera Therapeutics, Sana Biotechnology, Inc.,  Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Juno Therapeutics (acquired by Celgene for approx. $9B) and Indigo Agriculture.