Specialists Raise Millions To Combat Coronary Heart Disease
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Posted on Jul 10, 2020, 4 p.m.
Gene editing healthcare specialists Verve Therapeutics have raised $63 million in a Series A2 financing round to assist in their efforts to improve cardiovascular outcomes via gene editing technologies.
The company is focused on developing technologies that can edit specific genes in the liver to lower LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, this should help to permanently lower an individual’s risk of coronary heart disease which is a leading cause of death around the globe.
“We are immensely grateful to our existing investors for their continued support and commitment to our bold vision to eradicate coronary heart disease, and are very pleased to welcome Wellington Management and Casdin Capital to our investor syndicate,” Sekar Kathiresan, MD., co-founder and chief executive officer of Verve.
“This financing is a testament to the tremendous work by the Verve team and will position us to rapidly advance our lead therapeutic candidate through IND-enabling studies and expand our pipeline of development programs.” Sekar Kathiresan, MD, co-founder and CEO of Verve, said in a statement. “People with heart disease are in urgent need of new therapeutic options, and Verve’s research to date further underscores the transformative potential of gene editing as a therapeutic approach for these patients.”
“Verve’s approach for a once-and-done treatment to address coronary heart disease has the potential to eliminate the leading cause of death in the world, similar to the way the polio vaccine changed history in the last century,” added Krishna Yeshwant, MD, managing partner at GV. “Over the past year, Verve has made remarkable progress on their preclinical programs. The company has a world-class founding team that brings together all of the skills needed to execute on this mission, from human genetics to genome editing technologies to drug development and delivery.”
“Verve’s compelling vision and rapid progress are extremely exciting,” said Bob Deresiewicz, M.D., senior managing director and partner at Wellington Management. “We believe gene-editing technology for the treatment of coronary heart disease holds great promise. We look forward to partnering with the Verve team in its pursuit of groundbreaking medicines.”
The investment round was led by GV which was formerly known as Google Ventures, and additional funds were contributed by Biomatic Capital, Wellington Management, Casdin Capital, F-Prime Capital, and ARCH Venture Partners. With this round the company has now raised $123 million overall.
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