• Sonogenetics, discovered by SonoNeu founder Sreekanth Chalasani, is a new modality using ultrasound to precisely control specific cells ‘tagged’ with special proteins
• SonoNeu is part of a collaborative project, also comprising six leading US institutions, to advance sonogenetics research
• Project awarded up to $41.3m by Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the United States’ Department of Health and Human Services

 SonoNeu, a spin-out from the Salk Institute and co-founded by company igniter General Inception, announces it has emerged from stealth as part of a major project to advance sonogenetics as a new, noninvasive treatment approach for conditions such as peripheral neuropathy. The research program, led by The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has been awarded up to $41.3 million from the US Government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). SonoNeu will function as the commercial vehicle in the project, coordinating the translation of sonogenetics research into novel therapeutic candidates.

SonoNeu, co-founded by pioneering Salk Institute scientist Sreekanth Chalasani, PhD, aims to take his sonogenetics discovery – which uses ultrasound to precisely control mammalian cells – and transform it into a new, drug-free therapy for common and debilitating conditions that could be treated by modulating cell activity, such as diabetic neuropathy.

SonoNeu, which has been awarded up to $5.2 million as part of the ARPA-H award, will work alongside six other collaborating teams from leading US universities and research institutes, including Scripps Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Duke University. The outputs of the research will ultimately advance the program along a clear regulatory pathway toward FDA evaluation and commercialization.

Sonogenetics is an emerging approach that sensitizes specific cell types to ultrasound by equipping them with ultrasound-responsive proteins, enabling precise, noninvasive control. The ARPA-H award will support an up to six-year, multi-institution collaboration focused on developing core biological tools, next-generation ultrasound delivery systems, and the preclinical evidence needed to move sonogenetics into clinical trials for patients.

Professor Chalasani, Co-Founder of SonoNeu and lead principal investigator for the ARPA-H award, said: “This award is a major step toward a long-held goal - a drug-free way to deliver therapy exactly where it’s needed and only when it’s needed. We are building a platform that pairs engineered ultrasound-sensitive proteins with wearable ultrasound technology. One possible outcome may be to promote nerve repair and the relief of pain for people living with both common and debilitating conditions, including neuropathy indications.”

Among the programs that will be advanced with the proceeds of the award is the use of technologies to deliver ultrasound-sensitive proteins into the exact cells where they are needed, ensuring ultrasound activation only affects those cells of interest. The spatial and temporal precision that sonogenetics offers could potentially revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry.

Venkat Reddy, Chief Scientific Officer of General Inception and Co-Founder of SonoNeu, said:“Sonogenetics holds incredible promise for treating an array of conditions in a drug-free and non-invasive manner. General Inception is proud to have co-founded SonoNeu and believes this up to $41.3 million ARPA-H award will go a long way to advancing this incredible technology.”

SonoNeu will coordinate with the teams at the following institutions to develop an end-to-end therapeutic strategy:

• Scripps Research - A team led by Nobel Laureate Ardem Patapoutian, PhD, will support the discovery and engineering of ultrasound-sensitive proteins, drawing on deep expertise in mechanosensitive channels.
• University of Manitoba - A team led by Paul Fernyhough, PhD, will help define how ultrasound-triggered signals propagate through cellular machinery and drive nerve repair pathways.
• Duke University - A team led by Aravind Asokan, PhD, will develop targeted vectors to deliver ultrasound-sensitive proteins to specific cell types in the body, enabling translation of the focused ultrasound control platform.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering (MIT MechE) - A team led by Xuanhe Zhao, PhD, will develop ultrasound delivery systems for relevant targets in both animals and humans. 
• University of California, San Diego - A team led by Nigel Calcutt, PhD, will validate the efficacy of the sonogenetics approach across established paradigms and clinically relevant functional readouts in mammalian systems.
• California Medical Innovations Institute (Calmi2) - A team led by Ghassan Kassab, PhD, will support advanced translational validation and clinically relevant assessments in preclinical systems.

While the ARPA-H award focuses on the conditions that affect peripheral systems, sonogenetics also holds promise in enabling drug-free, non-invasive treatment of diseases of the brain including epilepsy, paralysis and certain types of Parkinson’s. While the latter can be treated with deep-brain stimulation to control tremors, this approach relies on electrodes planted deep in the brain, which trigger an immune response. Sonogenetics holds the promise of non-invasive deep brain stimulation.

Similarly, sonogenetics could be used as a non-invasive interface for two-way communication with the brain. The brain-computer interface (BCI) field is predicated on this problem. Sonogenetics could, if engineered mechanosensitive channels can be delivered safely and activated with sufficient specificity, provide a similar functionality to a Neuralink device, but without the need for an implant.