SonoThera

SonoThera is a South San Francisco, California biotechnology company developing nonviral, ultrasound-mediated delivery (UMD) of genetic medicines. Its proprietary RIPPLE (Remote Induction of Pulsed Pressure Lateral to Energy) platform uses ultrasound profiles and microbubble-based physics to direct genetic payloads to targeted tissues non-invasively, and is paired with a payload engineering platform the company calls PORE. The company states the combined approach enables broad, highly targeted biodistribution to nearly any organ without off-target delivery, delivery of DNA and RNA constructs of unlimited size (including full-length transgenic proteins, gene editors, siRNAs and ASOs), and repeat dosing with stable gene expression, while avoiding the immunogenicity and material-related toxicity associated with AAV and LNP vectors.

The pipeline spans muscle, kidney, liver, heart and CNS. Publicly presented programs include Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and limb-girdle muscular dystrophies, X-linked Alport Syndrome and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), plus a discovery pipeline in heart, adipose tissue and brain; preclinical work in Hemophilia A (Factor VIII expression) has also been presented. Lead programs for clinical development are DMD and ADPKD. The company says it is positioned to initiate its first human clinical trial in 2027, with several INDs to follow and a cadence of clinical data through 2028.

SonoThera was co-founded by Kenneth Greenberg, PhD (President and CEO), previously of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson cell and gene therapy external innovation, UNITY Biotechnology, and co-founder of CODA Biotherapeutics and Oncorus; and Steve Feinstein, MD (Chief Scientific Officer), inventor of the first two FDA-approved ultrasound microbubble agents (Albunex and Optison). Carolyne Zimmermann, previously Chief Business Officer at 4D Molecular Therapeutics, serves as Chief Business Officer.

Founding story

SonoThera was co-founded by Kenneth Greenberg, PhD, and Steve Feinstein, MD. Greenberg has stated the company was founded to take a fundamentally different approach to genetic medicine, with a platform intended to broaden the range of diseases addressable by gene therapy and enable more precise, durable, safer and repeatable therapies. Feinstein, the inventor of the first two FDA-approved ultrasound microbubble contrast agents (Albunex and Optison, later acquired by GE Healthcare), brings roughly three decades of experience in ultrasound-enhancing microbubbles. The company's premise builds on the established clinical use of ultrasound-enhancing agents, citing more than 35 million such agents used annually in U.S. diagnostic cardiac imaging.

Business model

SonoThera is a preclinical-stage therapeutics developer that intends to bring its own genetic medicine programs through clinical development. It operates a wholly owned IP portfolio covering the RIPPLE delivery technology, maintains partnerships with global ultrasound companies, and has vertically integrated payload design, engineering and manufacturing in-house. It is funded by venture capital and strategic corporate investors and describes itself as capital efficient with active partnership interest from financial, scientific and academic parties.

No revenue model is described in the sources; the company is preclinical and funded through venture and strategic financing.

Traction

SonoThera reports preclinical delivery and gene expression across skeletal muscle, heart, diaphragm, liver, kidney, adipose tissue and brain in mouse models and non-human primates, including full-length dystrophin for DMD, full-length Col4a5 for X-linked Alport Syndrome, durable Factor VIII expression for Hemophilia A, and RNA-based gene silencing. Data have been presented at AHA 2024, ASGCT Breakthroughs in Muscular Dystrophy 2024, ASH 2024 and 2025, ASGCT 2025 and 2026, ESGCT 2025, ASN Kidney Week 2025 and MDA 2026, with several published research items. Cumulative disclosed financing includes a $60.75M Series A (2022), $90M raised at founding per the company, and a $125M Series B closed in June 2026. First-in-human trial in DMD is targeted for 2027, with further INDs and clinical data expected through 2028.

Latest developments

In June 2026 SonoThera closed an oversubscribed $125 million Series B led by Vida Ventures, with participation from ARK Invest, CureDuchenne Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, SymBiosis, UCB Ventures SA, Vivo Capital and existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments, Duquesne Family Office, Illumina Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Medical Excellence Capital, RA Capital and Vertex Ventures HC. Proceeds will fund advancement of the DMD and ADPKD programs into the clinic, pipeline expansion and platform scale-up. Rajul Jain (Vida Ventures) and Rakhshita Dhar (Leaps by Bayer) joined the board. In May 2026 the company presented RIPPLE multi-tissue delivery and expression data at ASGCT 2026, and in March 2026 presented DMD dystrophin data at MDA 2026. The company reiterates plans to begin its first clinical trial, in DMD, in 2027.