Sculpta Takes Top Honors at the 2025 Alnylam BioVenture Challenge

The 2025 Alnylam BioVenture Challenge convened some of the most forward-thinking founders in genetic medicine at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ global headquarters in Cambridge on November 20. Unlike prior years, this third edition of the BioVenture challenge was designed as a custom call for innovation — a partnership-driven model built to surface platform technologies aligned with Alnylam’s strategic interests and the rapidly evolving needs of the field.

This bespoke format brought exceptional clarity and depth to the pitches, with teams presenting solutions to foundational challenges across delivery, targeting, real-time biology, isoform-resolved discovery, and next-generation payload engineering. The result was an afternoon that felt less like a competition and more like a shared exploration of what emerging science can unlock when founders and industry partners are in true dialogue.

This year’s finalists spanned a wide spectrum of modalities — including oral gene delivery, epigenetic editing, functional liquid biopsy tools, splice-isoform–resolved target discovery, peptide-guided genetic payloads, and protein nanoparticle systems. The diversity of approaches underscored the rapidly expanding set of tools shaping the future of genetic medicines.

The afternoon kicked off with cross-team networking and conversations with Alnylam’s R&D, scientific, and corporate responsibility leaders. When it came time for pitches, the judging panel — the event’s “Sharks” — made their entrance to dramatic Shark Tank walk-out music, setting a tone that was both high-energy and deeply technical.

A Standout Day for Innovation — and a Big Win for Sculpta

Across the board, each team articulated a clear path toward solving foundational bottlenecks in genetic medicine — from improving tissue targeting, to revealing real-time drug activity in patients, to uncovering previously invisible therapeutic targets.

After a highly competitive round of pitches, Sculpta, Inc. emerged as the winner of the 2025 Alnylam BioVenture Challenge, taking home the top prize. Their platform brings RNA splicing analysis into the single-cell genomics era — a capability poised to unlock new therapeutic targets across complex diseases.

Alnylam also awarded runner-up prizes of $10,000 each to Procure Bio and General Control, recognizing their impressive progress and potential. In addition, every semi-finalist received a $1,000 award to celebrate their achievements and contributions to this year’s outstanding cohort.

Leadership Reflections on a Transformative Cohort

Oliver Dodd, Executive Director at Nucleate, reflected on the caliber of this year’s competition and Sculpta’s standout performance:

“The BioVenture Challenge has become a place where founders tackling the hardest problems in genetic medicine can shine. This year’s cohort demonstrated extraordinary scientific creativity, and Sculpta in particular showed how a novel platform can reframe what’s possible in target discovery. Their win is incredibly well deserved.”

Arun, Head of DEI & Corporate Responsibility at Alnylam, highlighted the broader value of bringing emerging founders into the Alnylam ecosystem:

“What inspires us about this partnership is the opportunity to support diverse scientific perspectives at the earliest stages. These teams are pushing boundaries in ways that will shape the future of genetic medicine. We’re proud to help create pathways that allow this talent to grow — and Sculpta’s success is a great example of what can happen when those doors are opened.”

Kevin Fitzgerald, Chief Scientific Officer at Alnylam and one of the event’s “Sharks,” also reflected on the sophistication and promise of this year’s pitches:

“The exceptional quality of the presentations meant competition was fierce, demonstrating what’s possible when early-stage founders are focused on cutting-edge science and creating value for patients. This year’s finalists demonstrated not just technical depth, but real clarity around how their work can reshape the genetic medicine landscape to improve the lives of patients.”

Meet the 2025 Semi-Finalists

• Sculpta, Inc., Neal Amin (Winner) — Bringing RNA splicing analysis into the single-cell genomics era to unlock novel oligonucleotide therapeutic targets.
• Procure Bio, Feyisayo Eweje (Runner-Up) — Recombinant protein nanoparticles designed for cell-type–specific delivery of genetic payloads.
• General Control, Lada Nuzhna (Runner-Up) — An epigenetic editing platform for durable activation, silencing, and in vivo multiplexing for complex age-related phenotypes.
• Pi Bio, Kyle Ford — Combining highly multiplexed peptide discovery with engineered genetic payload design to create tissue-targeted genetic medicines.
• Oralex, Huiyi Liang — A non-viral oral gene delivery platform transforming genetic medicines for immune and gut diseases.
• NeXendia, Bogdan Rivoal — A functional liquid biopsy platform decoding cell-free RNA–protein complexes to reveal real-time drug activity, toxicity, and target engagement.
• NeoSplice Therapeutics, Evgeny Kiner — An AI-enabled isoform-resolved platform identifying disease-specific splice isoforms and prioritizing tractable RNA and protein targets.

About Nucleate

Nucleate is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of biotech leaders. With chapters across 40 regions and participation from more than 400 academic institutions, Nucleate provides open-access training, community infrastructure, and pathways for early-stage founders to build transformational technologies. If you are interested to learn more about partnering with Nucleate, please email oliver@nucleate.org.