Company Overview

Borealis Bio emerged from stealth in August 2024 with $150 million in combined Series A financing from founding investor Versant Ventures and Novartis AG, as well as committed strategic research collaboration funding from Novartis.

Borealis builds on the success of Chinook Therapeutics, a kidney disease company that was founded by Versant in 2019 and acquired by Novartis last year for up to $3.5 billion. The team is led by a strong group and academic advisors who were central to research at Chinook, together with additional leadership in the field of RNA therapeutics.

The company’s research site is based in Vancouver at the 23,000 square foot operating site formerly leased by Chinook Therapeutics. The facility includes state-of-the-art wet labs for molecular and cellular biology, vivarium space, chemistry and analytical capabilities. The initial 25+ team is made up of experienced drug hunters with extensive expertise in kidney disease, translational systems biology and data sciences, translational biology, chemistry, DMPK and pharmacology.