HOYA Lab, a Korean gene editing biotech startup, has secured seed funding from C&Venture Partners and WOW Partners. Following C&Venture Partners’ recommendation, HOYA Lab was also selected for TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup Korea), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ promising startup support program.

Since the 2010s, the spread of CRISPR gene editing technology has driven significant growth in the cell and gene therapy market. However, a major obstacle preventing wider adoption of CRISPR technology has been the off-target problem. Off-target effects occur when guide RNA, which should precisely deliver CRISPR gene scissors to target genes, mistakenly directs CRISPR to different genes, causing unwanted side effects.

HOYA Lab has developed technology that combines AI and biotechnology to redesign guide RNA to overcome these off-target issues, achieving meaningful results in informal experiments. Based on these achievements, HOYA Lab is currently undergoing credibility verification from reputable international institutions for off-target problems related to four rare diseases that global companies are trying to solve.

The investors executing this investment stated, “HOYA Lab’s approach to solving off-target problems is a novel method that has been difficult to find until now, with excellent technical merit, and we invested based on our assessment that they are achieving real results.”

Hyeon Yoo, CEO of HOYA Lab, said, “If HOYA Lab’s off-target resolution capability is verified, we expect active proposals for collaboration and joint research from domestic and global companies developing cell and gene therapies. We will share news of global technology transfers and other developments in the near future.”