Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc.
Founded 2022 · 10 employees on LinkedIn · 4 known investors
Cerecura develops RNA therapies using LNP-RNA (lipid nanoparticle) technology to treat neurological and brain diseases. The company seeks collaborations with academic institutions, biotech companies, and pharmaceutical organizations to advance LNP-RNA therapeutics in neurology.
Also known as CereCura · CereCura Nanotherapeutics Inc.
Investors · 4
Also in the syndicate · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026CereCura Nanotherapeutics Inc. is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based biotechnology company developing RNA therapeutics delivered by lipid nanoparticles (LNP) for neurological disorders and brain diseases. Its stated approach uses LNP-delivered RNA to instruct brain cells to synthesize therapeutic proteins internally, an approach intended to circumvent the blood-brain barrier that blocks many conventional drugs from reaching the central nervous system. The company presents the platform as modular and adaptable, with a single delivery modality applicable across multiple brain indications; reported research areas include neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
The company was federally incorporated in Canada on June 17, 2022 (Corporations Canada corporation no. 14137027), with a registered office at 1800 - 510 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, and Brian MacVicar listed as a director. It is described as founded in 2022 by co-founders Louis-Phillippe Bernier, Nicholas Weilinger, Richard Howlet, Brian MacVicar and Pieter Cullis; Cullis is a University of British Columbia professor associated with the development of LNP-RNA delivery technology used in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Louis-Phillipe Bernier is identified as CEO. The company is classified under biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, with sub-industry categorization in molecular science and genetics/gene therapy.
Founding story
The company was co-founded in 2022 by UBC professor Pieter Cullis, whose work on lipid nanoparticle RNA delivery underpinned the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, together with Louis-Phillippe Bernier (CEO), Nicholas Weilinger, Richard Howlet and Brian MacVicar. The founding premise was to apply LNP-RNA delivery to the central nervous system, where the blood-brain barrier has limited conventional drug delivery.
Business model
CereCura is a preclinical-stage therapeutics developer that pursues collaborations with academic institutions, biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical organizations to advance LNP-RNA therapeutics in neurology. Reported revenue generation is described as arising from strategic partnerships and collaborative research and development agreements, potentially structured around milestone payments and royalties; no product pricing is disclosed. The company also participates as a co-funding industry partner in externally supported research programs.
Reported as partnership- and collaboration-based, including collaborative research and development agreements with potential milestone payments and royalties tied to development and commercialization of LNP-RNA therapeutics; no disclosed product pricing.
Traction
The company reports preclinical proof of concept in rodents for LNP-RNA-driven protein delivery to the brain. It has raised C$2.2 million in seed financing in total, including a C$1.4 million all-equity seed round, alongside more than C$4 million in government grants to date. It is a named co-funder of a three-year, $1,464,765 CQDM-supported project led by Sébastien Tremblay (Université Laval-CERVO) with co-investigator Brian MacVicar (UBC) to demonstrate LNP-RNA protein delivery in non-human primate brain, optimize a lead candidate's RNA cargo, and validate it in neuronopathic lysosomal disease.
Latest developments
In September 2025 the company raised C$1.4 million in an all-equity seed round led by WUTIF Capital (VCC), with participation from UBC Venture Funds, eFund, HexTwo Capital and other venture and angel investors, with proceeds directed to advancing research into treatments for brain disorders. The company is also a co-funding partner on a CQDM-supported project advancing LNP-RNA protein delivery toward non-human primate validation and, ultimately, first-in-human trials.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
CereCura is an early-stage, seed-funded company operating within the Vancouver lipid nanoparticle development cluster, drawing on UBC-affiliated founders and LNP expertise, and positioned in the CNS-focused RNA therapeutics field.
Rather than delivering a protein drug across the blood-brain barrier, the approach delivers RNA instructions so that brain cells manufacture and secrete the therapeutic protein in situ, and the modular platform allows the RNA cargo to be swapped to address multiple neurological indications. Founder involvement in the original development of LNP-RNA delivery technology is cited as a source of technical depth.
Technology
The platform combines lipid nanoparticle delivery with RNA cargo. LNPs carry messenger RNA to brain cells, which then produce and secrete a therapeutic protein that can diffuse through brain tissue, effectively using brain cells as local protein factories and bypassing the blood-brain barrier. The company and partner RNA Technologies and Therapeutics Inc. have reported that the strategy is viable in rodents, delivering multiple proteins with broad spatiotemporal distribution in the brain. The technology is described as modular, allowing different RNA cargoes to be substituted to address different diseases.
Go-to-market
The company markets itself primarily through partnership solicitation, inviting academic, biotech and pharmaceutical collaborators to co-develop LNP-RNA therapeutics for neurology, and by participating in co-funded consortium research projects that advance the platform toward first-in-human studies.
Academic institutions, biotechnology firms and pharmaceutical organizations are the stated collaboration counterparties, with therapies aimed at patients with neurological and brain diseases, including neurodegenerative conditions and neuronopathic lysosomal disease.
Geography
Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with a registered federal Canadian incorporation. Collaborations and market focus are described as spanning North America and Europe, including a research project with Université Laval-CERVO in Quebec, the University of British Columbia, and Montreal-based RNA Technologies and Therapeutics Inc.
History
Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc. was incorporated federally in Canada on June 17, 2022, initially registered at DuMoulin Black Management Ltd., 595 Howe Street, Vancouver, and subsequently at 1800 - 510 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, with a corporate amendment recorded effective September 1, 2023. Seed financing of C$1.4 million led by WUTIF Capital was reported in September 2025 and covered in December 2025, bringing cumulative seed funding to C$2.2 million.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsVancouver-based CereCura Nanotherapeutics secured C$1.4 million in an all-equity seed round led by WUTIF Capital (VCC), with support from UBC Venture Funds, eFund, HexTwo Capital and other venture and angel investors. Proceeds are to advance research into treatments for brain disorders. Cumulative seed financing reported at C$2.2 million.
CereCura Nanotherapeutics is a co-funding partner, alongside RNA Technologies & Therapeutics Inc. and Brain Canada Foundation, of a three-year project valued at $1,464,765 led by Sébastien Tremblay (Université Laval-CERVO) with co-investigator Brian MacVicar (UBC), supported by CQDM through Quebec's Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et de l'Énergie, to develop LNP-RNA-based protein delivery to the brain.
Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc. was incorporated as a federal corporation with Corporations Canada (corporation no. 14137027), with a Vancouver, BC registered office.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc.cerecura.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc. do?
- CereCura Nanotherapeutics is a Vancouver biotech developing LNP-RNA therapeutics for neurological and brain diseases.
- Who are Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc.'s investors?
- Cerecura Nanotherapeutics Inc.'s investors include WUTIF Capital.