Health · Medical Research · 3 hrs ago
Helex develops kidney-targeted gene-editing therapy for genetic disease
Hyderabad biotech Helex is developing a gene-editing treatment designed to reach kidney cells.
The company was founded by Poulami Chaudhuri, Anirudh Nishtala and Rohini Kalvakuntla, who want to develop advanced medicines that are affordable in India and elsewhere.
Its lead candidate is a single-dose therapy for ADPKD, a genetic condition in which fluid-filled cysts grow in the kidneys and reduce their function over time.
Helex says its lipid nanoparticles are designed to carry the drug into targeted kidney cells, where it could edit faulty genes and potentially slow or reverse the disease.
No gene-editing therapy has yet reached the kidney, while the existing drug to slow cyst growth can carry a risk of liver injury.
Helex has filed four patents and presented research posters at international scientific meetings, but the company is still developing its approach.
Hyderabad-based Helex is developing a gene-editing treatment designed to deliver medicine to kidney cells.
Its lead candidate is a single-dose therapy for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
The company uses in-house-developed lipid nanoparticles to carry the drug to target kidney cells.
Helex says its delivery technology aims to address the challenge of reaching the kidney safely and precisely.
The founders also want to make advanced medicines affordable for patients in India and worldwide.
- Who
- Helex Inc., founded by Anirudh Nishtala, Poulami Chaudhuri and Rohini Kalvakuntla.
- What
- It is developing a kidney-targeted gene-editing drug for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
- When
- The article was published on 29 October 2026; the therapy’s development timeline is not stated.
- Where
- Helex is based in Hyderabad, India.
- Why
- The company aims to address the challenge of delivering drugs safely to kidney cells and make advanced treatments affordable.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Poulami Chaudhuri and Anirudh Nishtala studied molecular sciences at King’s College in London, while Rohini Kalvakuntla studied international management.
The three former graduate students came together to set up Helex in Hyderabad.
- Headquarters
- Hyderabad, India
- Founders
- Anirudh Nishtala, Poulami Chaudhuri and Rohini Kalvakuntla
- Lead candidate
- Single-dose gene-editing drug for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease
- Drug delivery
- In-house-developed lipid nanoparticles
- Patents
- Helex has filed four patents
What people are saying
While gene editing has been validated in patients for other indications such as liver diseases, no therapy has yet been able to reach the kidney. The biggest challenge is delivering therapeutic agents to the kidney safely and in a targeted way, and that is exactly what our proprietary delivery technology is built to solve
The three of us have spent a significant amount of time in the West, and we saw what advanced therapies could really do—the promise of it. The idea was to grow that sort of innovation in India
The motivation was to have top-class medicine and science, but it has to be accessible and affordable for patients in India and worldwide