Verve Therapeutics, a US-based gene editing technology provider based on research at Harvard University and Broad Institute, secured $58.5m on Tuesday in a series A round led by GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Alphabet.
F-Prime Capital, a subsidiary of investment and financial services group Fidelity, also participated in the round, as did venture capital firms Arch Venture Partners and Biomatics Capital.
Verve is using genetic analysis and gene editing to developing therapies capable of making edits in an adult’s genome that will reduce the risk of coronary artery disease, a common form of heart disease.
The company has signed licensing agreements with Harvard University and Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Its co-founder and chief scientific advisor, Kiran Musunuru, is an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
The company has partnerships in place with Beam Therapeutics, a genetic medicine spinout of Harvard, allowing it to access Beam’s base editing, gene editing and delivery technology, and Alphabet’s life sciences subsidiary, Verily, enabling it to leverage the latter’s nanoparticle screening platform.
Krishna Yeshwant, general partner at GV, and Anthony Philippakis, a venture partner at GV, have both joined the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, as has Arch Venture Partners CEO John Evans.
Boris Nikolic, co-founder and managing director of Biomatics Capital, and F-Prime principal Jessica Alston have taken board observer positions.
Sekar Kathiresan, a Verve co-founder who is being appointed CEO, said: “Our genetic understanding of coronary artery disease, combined with increasing sophistication of gene editing technologies, have aligned to create a transformative moment in the treatment of this disease.
“Verve was founded to turn the tide of coronary artery disease worldwide. Gene editing offers the possibility of introducing protective gene variants to adults at risk of the disease through a one-time therapy.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

US-based gene editing technology provider Verve Therapeutics secured $58.5m on Tuesday in a series A round led by GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet technology conglomerate Alphabet.

F-Prime Capital, a subsidiary of investment and financial services group Fidelity, also participated in the round, as did venture capital firms Arch Venture Partners and Biomatics Capital.

Verve is using genetic analysis and gene editing to developing therapies capable of making edits in an adult’s genome that will reduce the risk of coronary artery disease, a common form of heart disease.

The company has partnerships in place with genetic medicine developer Beam Therapeutics, allowing it to access Beam’s base editing, gene editing and delivery technology, and Alphabet’s life sciences subsidiary, Verily, enabling it to leverage the latter’s nanoparticle screening platform.

Krishna Yeshwant, general partner at GV, and Anthony Philippakis, a venture partner at GV, have both joined the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, as has Arch Venture Partners CEO John Evans.

Boris Nikolic, co-founder and managing director of Biomatics Capital, and F-Prime principal Jessica Alston have taken board observer positions.

Sekar Kathiresan, a Verve co-founder who is being appointed CEO, said: “Our genetic understanding of coronary artery disease, combined with increasing sophistication of gene editing technologies, have aligned to create a transformative moment in the treatment of this disease.

“Verve was founded to turn the tide of coronary artery disease worldwide. Gene editing offers the possibility of introducing protective gene variants to adults at risk of the disease through a one-time therapy.”

The company has signed licensing agreements with Harvard University and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Its co-founder and chief scientific advisor, Kiran Musunuru, is an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.