08:47 AM EDT, 08/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Novartis ( NVS ) said Thursday it has teamed up with Versant Ventures to establish Borealis Biosciences, a discovery-stage biotechnology company that will focus on developing xRNA medicines for kidney diseases.

The company is emerging from stealth with $150 million in combined Series A financing from founding investor Versant Ventures and Novartis AG ( NVS ).

Borealis will build on legacy scientific talent from Chinook Therapeutics, a kidney disease company created by Versant in 2019 and bought by Novartis ( NVS ) in 2023, Novartis ( NVS ) said. Certain former Chinook researchers can continue their drug discovery efforts as Novartis ( NVS ) has transferred certain employees and the Vancouver site formerly leased by Chinook to Borealis, according to Novartis ( NVS ).

The company said an additional part of the deal includes a near-term research funding agreement that gives it the option to acquire two future development-ready programs under pre-agreed terms.

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