Biotech startup Pandorum bags $18 mn to develop therapies for rare ocular diseases

Biotechnology firm Pandorum Technologies has raised $18 million (Rs 163 crore) in a Series B round to advance the clinical development of its therapies that target diseases on the surface of the eye. 

The Bengaluru-based startup, which operates research facilities in India and the US, said Monday the round was led by Vapi, Gujarat-based Protons Corporate Services Pvt Ltd. 

Drugmaker Galentic Pharma, stock market investor Ashish Kacholia, Noblevast Advisory, early-stage venture capital firm Avinya Ventures, and the Burman family were among the other investors that joined the round. 

The latest round comes almost eight years after the company raised $3.6 million in a Series A round from investors including the Indian Angel Network, venture capital funds 021 Capital and 500 Startups, and the state government-backed Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund.

Pandorum focuses on developing therapies for rare ocular surface diseases, such as Stevens–Johnson Syndrome and Neurotrophic Keratitis. It develops disease-modifying, tunable, exosome-based therapies.

The company’s flagship drug Kuragenx has received US Food and Drug Administration’s orphan drug designation. 

The FDA has the authority to grant the designation to select drugs or biological products that prevent, diagnose or treat a rare disease or condition. The support entails tax credits for qualified clinical trials, exemption from user fees, and potential seven years of market exclusivity after approval.  

With the capital raised, the startup is planning to scale its manufacturing capacity and expand operations across the US, Japan, and the Middle East. Additionally, it is expanding its tunable platform to address systemic conditions, including inflammatory and degenerative diseases affecting the lung, liver, and nervous systems. 

For global distribution, Pandorum has implemented a distributed manufacturing strategy, including a contract development and manufacturing partnership with Italy-based AGC Biologics for the US and European markets, and a collaboration with Bharat Biotech subsidiary Nucelion Therapeutics to support supply across the Asia-Pacific region. It is also exploring potential partnerships in the Middle East. 

Founded by Tuhin Bhowmick and Arun Chandru, Pandorum’s proprietary platform blends biology, engineering, and computation to develop tunable, regenerative exosome therapies that reprogram pathological tissue states, like inflammation and fibrosis, toward functional recovery.

“This funding would enable us to translate breakthrough science into programmable, disease-modifying therapies, beginning with single-tissue applications and scaling to multi-tissue repair, aligned with Pandorum’s vision- to heal fast and age slow[ly],” said Bhowmick, co-founder and CEO of Pandorum.​