Funding will support the company’s efforts to refine its proprietary glycan-engineering platform, expand its scientific and operational team, and advance preclinical studies of its engineered biologics.
An illustration of the glycan code showcasing the diversity of potential glycosylation patterns and their impact on protein function | Image Credit: © Justlight.
Biologic drug developers continue to face significant challenges related to variable efficacy and the risk of adverse immune responses, according to a May 28, 2025 news release from Kyron.bio (1). A key contributor to these issues lies in how the body identifies therapeutic proteins—particularly antibodies—as foreign, prompting the immune system to attack them. This immune reaction can compromise the effectiveness of a therapy and present safety concerns that often emerge early in clinical trials, especially during Phase I assessments. These problems are particularly acute in chronic and complex conditions where patients require long-term, consistent treatment.
Kyron.bio, a biotechnology company focused on overcoming this obstacle through glycan engineering, has announced the closing of a €5.5 million seed funding round. The investment was led by HCVC, with participation from Verve Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Saras Capital, and a group of experienced angel investors. The funds will support the company’s efforts to refine its proprietary glycan-engineering platform, expand its scientific and operational team, and advance preclinical studies of its engineered biologics (1).
This funding milestone also marks the launch of Kyron.bio’s European Innovation Council (EIC) Transition project (2), offering additional support to accelerate the translation of its technology from research to clinical application.
·Kyron.bio raises €5.5M in seed funding to scale its precision glycosylation platform for safer, more consistent antibody drug manufacturing.
·Backed by HCVC and EIC Transition, the investment supports Kyron.bio’s preclinical studies and expansion of its glycan-engineering capabilities.
·Funding accelerates biopharma partnerships, enabling broader adoption of glycan control technology in next-gen antibody therapeutic development.
According to the news release, Kyron.bio’s innovation focuses on a longstanding manufacturing bottleneck in biologics: the cellular process of N-glycosylation, which decorates therapeutic proteins with sugar molecules, or glycans (1). In standard biomanufacturing environments, this process results in heterogeneous glycan structures, which can inadvertently stimulate immune detection or impair drug function. Kyron.bio has developed a system capable of exerting full control over glycosylation, creating a highly consistent glycan profile across batches of antibody therapeutics.
This precision is achieved through engineered Chinese hamster ovary cell lines, which serve as the biological factories for monoclonal antibody production. By genetically modifying these cells, Kyron.bio has established a means to dictate glycan attachment with previously unattainable accuracy (1). This is combined with proprietary modifications to the antibody molecules themselves, designed to reduce immunogenicity and optimize therapeutic performance. Together, these technologies allow Kyron.bio to reach over 97% consistency in glycan structures—an unprecedented achievement in standard bioproduction.
According to Emilia McLaughlin, PhD, CEO and founder of Kyron.bio, “To date, glycans have been massively under-exploited, limiting their potential in drug design. By achieving comprehensive control over glycosylation in a fully scalable manner, we have unlocked the possibility to use precision glycosylation in drug design. This transforms glycans into a design tool for the first time, opening up new treatment avenues for patients. Securing this fundraising round brings us closer to our goal of delivering precision glycan-engineered therapeutics to patients.”
As noted in the news release, Kyron.bio’s platform is particularly relevant to pharmaceutical companies developing next-generation monoclonal antibodies, especially those with complex formats or multi-target mechanisms that increase the risk of immune recognition (1). By enhancing glycan consistency, the technology allows biologics to better evade immune detection, resist degradation, and achieve greater therapeutic precision.
This advancement is especially promising in therapeutic areas, such as oncology and autoimmune diseases. In cancer, where safety and tolerability are critical in early clinical trials, improved glycan control could significantly increase the likelihood of drug candidates passing Phase I evaluations. For chronic conditions, with which patients are often treated over long periods, Kyron.bio’s technology offers the potential to prevent the gradual loss of treatment efficacy due to immune resistance.
“Kyron.bio’s technology bridges a massive gap in therapeutics design,” said Alexis Houssou, founder & managing partner at HCVC. “Their breakthrough in glycan control could shift the paradigm for antibody therapies, and we’re proud to support their vision.”
McLaughlin’s approach is deeply rooted in her academic work on rare single-cell organisms during her PhD at Institut Pasteur in Paris (1). That research helped shape Kyron.bio’s molecular design strategy, ultimately leading to the creation of the first scalable and patent-protected platform for programmable glycosylation.
As biologic drug development grows increasingly sophisticated, so too do the risks associated with immune rejection and manufacturing inconsistency. Kyron.bio is positioning its technology to address both of these issues—offering drug developers a toolset that integrates seamlessly with existing production methods while enabling the next generation of safer, more effective antibody therapies (1).
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