Biotechnology startups usually turn to a few tried-and-true options to raise the money they need to develop a new drug. Company founders might get initial financial help from friends, family or an angel investor. Perhaps they’ll apply for grant funding or a spot in a startup accelerator. More often than not, they’ll then rely on venture funding to survive..

生物技术初创公司通常会采用一些久经考验的方法来筹集开发新药所需的资金。公司创始人可能会从朋友、家人或天使投资人那里获得初始资金帮助。也许他们会申请资助或加入初创企业加速器。但大多数情况下，他们最终会依赖风险投资来维持生存。

Siren Biotechnology, a San Francisco-based gene therapy startup, has already done some of that work. The company received a

旧金山基因治疗初创公司Siren Biotechnology已经完成了一些工作。该公司收到了

$4 million grant

400万美元拨款

as well as $28 million in venture funding since its founding in 2020, and has the support of a few well-known firms like Founders Fund and Lux Capital.

自2020年成立以来，已获得2800万美元的风险投资，并得到了一些知名公司的支持，如创始人基金和Lux Capital。

Recently, though, Siren began testing a different idea to supplement its fundraising: the type of “

不过，最近Siren开始测试另一个补充其筹款的想法：“

community investment round

社区投资轮次

” often employed by tech startups but rarely their biotech counterparts.

“经常被技术初创公司采用，但很少被其生物技术同行采用。

Last month, Siren

上个月，塞壬

announced plans to pursue

宣布计划追求

what’s known as

所谓的

regulation crowdfunding

监管众筹

, a financial tool that involves selling equity stakes to “accredited” investors who meet specific Securities and Exchange Commission income and net worth criteria, as well as

，一种金融工具，涉及向符合特定证券交易委员会收入和净资产标准的“合格”投资者出售股权，以及

non-accredited

非认可的

individuals who don’t. The SEC allows companies to use this approach to raise up to $5 million over a one-year period through an online, agency-registered intermediary, such as a funding portal. Siren is using a platform called WeFunder.

不这样做的个人。美国证券交易委员会（SEC）允许公司通过在线的、在机构注册的中介机构（例如融资门户）使用这种方法，在一年内筹集高达500万美元的资金。Siren正在使用一个名为WeFunder的平台。

The amount Siren seeks represents a fraction of the typically hundreds of millions — if not more — that biotech companies need to bring a drug to market. However, CEO and scientific founder Nicole Paulk views the idea as a creative way to attract different types of investors.

Siren 寻求的金额仅代表了生物技术公司通常需要的数亿美元（如果不是更多）中的一小部分，以将一种药物推向市场。然而，首席执行官兼科学创始人尼科尔·保罗克 (Nicole Paulk) 认为这个想法是一种吸引不同类型投资者的创造性方式。

“The scientist in me is just like, ‘We're going to run this experiment and see if it works,’” she said in an interview.

“我内心的科学家就像在说，‘我们将进行这个实验，看看它是否有效，’”她在一次采访中说道。

Siren Biotechnology CEO Nicole Paulk.

Siren生物技术公司首席执行官Nicole Paulk。

Permission granted by Siren Biotechnology

Siren生物技术公司授权许可

Siren is developing a kind of medicine that

塞壬正在开发一种药物，这种药物

blends elements of gene therapy and cancer immunotherapy

结合了基因治疗和癌症免疫治疗的元素

. It’s using a type of virus to send into tumors engineered versions of cancer-fighting cytokines. The company’s

它使用一种病毒将经过工程改造的抗癌细胞因子送入肿瘤。该公司的

lead program

领导程序

, for an aggressive form of brain cancer

，一种侵袭性脑癌

called high-grade glioma

称为高级别胶质瘤

, is in preclinical testing. Siren aims to ask regulators around the end of the year to start human testing, according to Paulk.

，处于临床前测试阶段。据保罗克称，Siren 计划在今年年底左右向监管机构提出开始人体试验的请求。

Biotechs in Siren’s mold have had a difficult time of late raising funds for these experiments. Venture firms have coalesced around fewer but larger bets, leading a

像塞壬模式的生物技术公司最近在为这些实验筹集资金方面遇到了困难。风险投资公司已经将资金集中在更少但更大的赌注上，导致了

spike in $100 million-plus “megarounds”

金额超过1亿美元的“巨额融资”激增

and a preference for more

更加偏爱

proven drug startups

已证明的药物初创公司

. Gene and cell therapy developers have been hit particularly hard during this shift, with

基因和细胞疗法的开发者在此转变过程中受到了特别严重的打击，

funding totals falling significantly from their peak

资金总额从峰值显著下降

a few years ago.

几年前。

Paulk says the investment climate didn’t factor into Siren’s decision to pursue crowdfunding. Nonetheless, Paulk believes such tools could be helpful for Siren and early-stage companies like it. A small amount of cash goes a long way for a preclinical startup, she said, and could be useful for biotechs that need to reach their next milestone but can’t secure cash from institutional investors..

保罗克说，投资环境并不是Siren决定追求众筹的考虑因素。尽管如此，保罗克认为这样的工具对Siren和像它这样处于早期阶段的公司可能会有帮助。她说，对于一家临床前的初创公司来说，少量的资金能起到很大的作用，并且可能对那些需要达到下一个里程碑但却无法从机构投资者那里获得现金的生物技术公司有用。

Paulk, a former University of California, San Francisco assistant professor, said the idea was first suggested to her by a prominent local CEO who invested in Siren. She began looking into it in January, and became intrigued by crowdfunding's novelty, as well as its potential to draw in individuals, like patients and their families, who might have a personal stake in the company’s research..

保罗克曾是加州大学旧金山分校的助理教授，她说这个想法最初是由一位投资了Siren的当地著名首席执行官向她提出的。她从一月份开始研究这一想法，并对众筹的新颖性及其吸引个人（如患者及其家属）参与公司研究的潜力产生了浓厚兴趣，这些个人可能与公司的研究有切身利益关系。

“I just became enamored with the concept,” she said.

“我只是迷恋上了这个概念，”她说道。

Patients, caregivers and their friends can, of course, donate to disease foundations that often issue grants to academic labs and scientists. Yet those funds might go toward supporting projects that are years from human testing or may never get there. Paulk contends these communities might be inclined to invest in a company with a treatment their patients could later receive in a trial..

患者、护理人员以及他们的朋友当然可以向经常向学术实验室和科学家发放拨款的疾病基金会捐款。然而，这些资金可能会用于支持距离人体试验还有数年之久，或者可能永远无法进入人体试验阶段的项目。保罗克认为，这些群体可能会倾向于投资一家公司，该公司研发的治疗方案可以让他们的患者日后在试验中接受治疗。

Such direct investment does pose risks, however. Siren’s

然而，这种直接投资确实存在风险。Siren的

WeFunder homepage

WeFunder主页

doesn’t mention the gene therapy field’s recent headwinds, nor does it fully detail the arduous journey every biotech faces in proving the safety and efficacy of promising new therapies. Most drugs, even those based on cutting-edge and sophisticated science, later fail in testing.

没有提到基因治疗领域最近遇到的阻力，也没有充分详细说明每个生物技术公司在证明有前景的新疗法的安全性和有效性时所面临的艰巨旅程。大多数药物，甚至是那些基于尖端和复杂科学的药物，后来在测试中失败了。

Siren does provide

Siren 确实提供

information

信息

on its financial health and operations for 2023 and 2024, a rare window into the inner workings of a private company, as well as an independent auditor’s report. According to the

在其2023年和2024年的财务健康状况和运营情况，这一罕见的视角揭示了一家私营公司的内部运作，以及独立审计师的报告。根据

WeFunder page

WeFunder 页面

, prospective investors who contribute $50,000 will receive quarterly reports from Siren, while anyone who invests $100,000 gets twice yearly calls with Paulk.

，投入5万美元的潜在投资者将收到Siren的季度报告，而任何投资10万美元的人则每年与保尔克通两次电话。

Paulk wouldn’t say exactly how much the company has raised so far. But she’s closely watching to see who the idea resonates with, what works or doesn’t, and intends to share the details with other aspiring founders. She’s already been contacted by others in the biotech startup community to discuss her experience..

保罗克没有确切说明公司到目前为止筹集了多少钱。但她正在密切关注这个想法引起谁的共鸣，什么有效或无效，并打算将这些细节分享给其他有抱负的创始人。她已经被生物科技初创企业社区的其他人联系，讨论她的经验。

“I’m talking about this everywhere,' she said. “I’m not trying to make it a secret by any means.”

“我到处都在谈论这件事，”她说道，“我绝不是想把它当成秘密。”

Since opening the round, Siren has cleared the $50,000 minimum threshold

自从本轮开盘以来，Siren已经突破了50,000美元的最低门槛

WeFunder requires

WeFunder要求

before disbursing funds. As of Wednesday, more than a dozen people had

在发放资金之前。截至周三，已有十多人

publicly identified themselves

公开表明自己的身份

as investors. One “

作为投资者。一个“

lead

铅

” investor, Lynn Fischer, a managing director at

“投资者，林恩·费舍尔，董事总经理 tại

KMAK Capital

KMAK资本

, said her firm put in $200,000.

，说她公司投入了20万美元。

“Our investment is an expression of confidence in Siren Biotechnology's scientific innovation, their ability to navigate the complexities of the regulatory landscape, and their power to deliver on the massive potential of AAV immuno-gene therapy for patients,” Fischer wrote on the funding portal webpage..

“我们的投资表达了对Siren生物技术公司科学创新的信心，他们驾驭复杂监管环境的能力，以及他们为患者实现AAV免疫基因治疗巨大潜力的实力，”菲舍尔在融资门户网站的页面上写道。