Following the investment, Genovis will own 25 percent of SEQURNA. As part of the transaction, the parties have agreed to a call option with an end date on 30 June 2027, providing Genovis the right to acquire all shares of SEQURNA under certain terms and conditions. Genovis’ CEO, Fredrik Olsson, will join SEQURNA’s Board of Directors.

RNase inhibitors are critical reagents that are widely used in the life science industry. RNA degradation is a significant challenge in biomedicine, as even minimal contamination can lead to the loss of RNA integrity and affect experimental outcomes. RNA is highly sensitive to degradation by RNases, which can lead to false-negative results and compromised data quality in RNA-based techniques such as RT-PCR, RNA-sequencing, gene expression analysis, and manufacturing of mRNA (in vitro transcription).

As a result, there is a significant demand for improved RNase inhibitors to preserve RNA integrity and ensure the accuracy of experimental results. SEQURNA has developed synthetic, thermostable RNase inhibitors which solve many of the shortcomings of conventional protein-based RNase inhibitors, such as stability and integrity, batch-to-batch variability and interference with downstream applications.

The RNase inhibitor market is forecasted to undergo continued strong growth driven by increased research in genomics and transcriptomics, not least through the expanded use of RNA-sequencing, including single-cell RNA-seq, in situ RNA-seq, and multiomics applications. Moreover, emerging clinical RNA-based tools promise great potential to benefit human health, unavoidably requiring reliable means of RNA preservation.

CEO of Genovis, Fredrik Olsson, commented:

“We are excited to partner with SEQURNA and the very talented team lead by Björn Reinius. We have been following SEQURNA for a while and are impressed with its unique RNase inhibitor technology, which provide customers with improved workflows, simplified storage and logistics, at a competitive price for the end user. The investment in SEQURNA supports our long-term strategy to expand our portfolio by inorganic growth initiatives and continue to bring unique products to our customers within the life science industry.“

CEO and Co-founder of SEQURNA, Björn Reinius (PhD), commented:

“My Co-founders and I are very pleased to onboard Genovis as a strategic partner. Since the launch of our first RNase inhibitor, things have been moving quickly and we see a strong demand for our product. We look forward to receiving the benefit of Genovis’ distribution platform and expertise in the industry, which will benefit SEQURNA’s growth and business development going forward.”

The full terms of the transactions are not disclosed. SEB Corporate Finance acted as sole financial advisor on the transaction.  

ABOUT SEQURNA

SEQURNA was founded in 2022 out of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Sweden. SEQURNA develops and markets proprietary next-generation RNase inhibitors, which makes RNA work and sequencing pipelines more accessible, affordable, and sustainable. The SEQURNA RNase inhibitor is thermostable and can be shipped and stored at room temperature without affecting its performance. SEQURNA’s inhibitor stands out as the first non-protein-based alternative on the market to match or exceed the performance of conventional recombinant RNase inhibitors in demanding single-cell transcriptomics applications, thereby advancing the RNA protection market.