“We are excited to work towards our vision of making gene therapy more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible, and are grateful for the early support and financing received from BioInnovation Institute, EIFO and Innovation Fund during our ideation and start-up phase,” says Henrik Stage, co-founder and Executive Chair of Fuse Vectors. 

AAV gene therapy development

Fuse Vectors aims to be the universal solution for AAV gene therapy development, delivering unmet patient needs and expanding the accessibility of gene therapy to a wider range of indications, the company states.

“Fuse Vectors’ cell-free Fuse Technology offers significant improvements, reducing production time and costs while enhancing vector quality to meet patients’ unmet needs,” says Benjamin Blaha, co-founder of Fuse Vectors. “The enzymatic AAV capsid filling process eliminates cell-based AAV production, using efficient technologies storing components in a module library. This allows on-demand, controlled biocatalytic reactions to fill capsids and works across all serotypes.”

Instead of relying on living cells’ unpredictable behavior, Fuse’s technology assembles viral vectors through controlled biochemical reactions, they describe. This approach allows for unprecedented precision, achieving over 99% filled capsids synthesized in hours rather than weeks. Partners simply provide a gene sequence, and Fuse’s streamlined process packages it into an AAV vector – enabling faster, higher-quality development with minimal setup, describes the company.

Two commercialization strategies

The company plans two commercialization strategies: partnering with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and academic institutions to optimize drug candidates using their Fuse Technology and Optimization Engine, while also developing their own pipeline of therapeutic candidates.

“Fuse Vectors’ approach to gene therapy has the potential to make gene therapy much more interesting for the industry to develop as well as increase accessibility to patients,” states Trine Bartholdy, CBO of BioInnovation Institute. “Their start-up development exemplifies BII’s commitment to empowering innovative platform technologies based on world-class scientific research to grow into successful companies capable of making meaningful impact on the future of gene therapy and human health.”