BRIEF—Bionaut Labs pioneers use of micro robots

Newly-launched Bionaut Labs has raised $20 million in a financing round led by Khosla Ventures. The firm will focus on developing precision medicine treatments for CNS disorders.

Using its proprietary Bionaut treatment modality, the company’s lead therapeutic program targets glioma, a type of brain cancer. The firm is also advancing a program in Huntington's disease.

A Bionaut is a novel treatment modality that uses remote-controlled microscale robots to deliver biologics, nucleic acids, or small molecule therapies locally to targeted CNS disease areas.

Chief executive Michael Shpigelmacher said: "The Bionaut approach allows us to be free of the constraints of conventional neurosurgery. They make it possible to get to the precise brain area we want to target, providing the freedom to explore new pathways and remove the device without leaving a footprint.”

The firm hopes to be able to offer better efficacy and safety than with traditional approaches.