Tome Biosciences, which launched with $213 million, has acquired Replace Therapeutics for $185 million, a startup exclusively funded by CivilizationVC and known for its gene editing tool that combines Cas9 and a DNA ligase. This acquisition, announced just weeks after Tome's launch, is expected to establish Tome as a leader in gene integration and editing technologies, with the ability to make any sized edit. Replace's ligase system has been noted for its efficiency, described as 'far higher' than prime editing. CivilizationVC has marked this as its 9th exit and 3rd fund exit in genomic medicines. Tome's PASTE and Replace technologies will enable edits both big and small. In related news, Moonwalk Biosciences has launched in the Bay Area with $57 million for its epigenetic reprogramming platform, co-founded by Feng Zhang. Moonwalk aims to target the epigenetic code rather than the DNA itself. Meanwhile, Zhang's other venture, Aera, has laid off a quarter of its staff within a year of its founding.
A stealthy new biotech named Moonwalk Biosciences has popped up in the Bay Area with some fresh cash. Here's what we know. https://t.co/Ng6zQZVbT4
Oh wow…big RIF at Aera Feng Zhang’s year-old CRISPR delivery startup Aera lays off quarter of staff https://t.co/qg3QUFy41i
Ex Grail Bio Alex Aravanis now heading Moonwalk Bio, still epigenetics, but now therapeutics, not diagnostics. https://t.co/ywu2y7Foyk
Thrilled to welcome @Alex_Aravanis and the Moonwalk team to the KV portfolio! 🎉 Moonwalk is using epigenetics - "the software of the genome" - to treat various diseases. https://t.co/cs0xb1NcfH
SCOOP: Feng Zhang’s year-old CRISPR delivery startup Aera lays off quarter of staff https://t.co/MPglihYNWT via @statnews @Jasonmmast
Layoffs at Aera, Feng Zhang’s CRISPR delivery startup https://t.co/jxXhBt8pHq
Feng Zhang’s year-old CRISPR delivery startup Aera lays off quarter of staff https://t.co/h0jUxQ2icw via @Jasonmmast
Moonwalk Biosciences Launches With $57M in Seed, Series A Financing. The company is developing an epigenetic profiling and engineering platform with which to develop a pipeline of epigenetic therapies. https://t.co/OjqJ6UptA8
A new startup co-founded by CRISPR innovator Feng Zhang, a former executive at Grail and Illumina, and others has raised $57 million to develop a defanged form of gene editing that doesn’t cut the DNA strand. https://t.co/0aZf5pLj9G
Doing the 🧬 Moonwalk Our newest investment: AI-driven epigenetic editing for novel modes of precision medicine. Moonwalk’s molecular tools are like CRISPR for methylation tags, and not the DNA itself. Genes are the firmware, epigenetics is the software. https://t.co/wysFQPLWmp https://t.co/fiCy745cyH
Feng Zhang, Grail founder join forces on new gene editing startup, Moonwalk https://t.co/Sm3fftpIMS via @ADeAngelis_bio for @statnews
🧬 MORE EPIGENETIC EDITING news today: WELCOME MOONWALK BIO $57M Series A https://t.co/05GAuBJjBD https://t.co/ceTCWOS84N https://t.co/HuQ8S35rh4
Welcome to the portfolio, Moonwalk Biosciences, @Alex_Aravanis, Arash Jamshidi, and Justin Valley! 🎉 Moonwalk aims to reprogram cells to their healthy state with epigenetic editing, a new approach that enables scientists to restore diseased cells — https://t.co/Ot0PLmf1xA
Feng Zhang, Grail founder join forces on new gene editing startup, Moonwalk https://t.co/dR9Fpng5Sm via @statnews
A new startup co-founded by Feng Zhang aims to develop treatments for a variety of diseases, including chronic and aging-related conditions, using what’s called epigenetic editing. https://t.co/NkLapkALaX
Moonwalk steps out with $57m for #epigenetic reprogramming platform... Biotech co-founded by Alex Aravanis and Feng Zhang targets epigenetic code to reprogram cells to a healthy state. #longevity #epigenetics #investment #moonwalk @zhangf https://t.co/O9Sgu0AqHn
Meet the new startup co-founded by CRISPR innovator Feng Zhang, a former executive at Grail and Illumina, and others to develop a defanged form of gene editing — https://t.co/ENwHw7AiY2 @khoslaventures @GVteam
Feng Zhang, Grail founder join forces on new gene editing startup, Moonwalk https://t.co/YeXTp0OKzk via @ADeAngelis_bio
A stealthy new biotech named Moonwalk Biosciences has popped up in the Bay Area with some fresh cash. Here's what we know. https://t.co/LA69xyRIft
How can we make any change in the genome, regardless of size? Today, @Tome_bio announces the acquisition of Replace Therapeutics. Together, PASTE and Replace allow edits both big and small, paving the way for new gene and cell therapies. Excited to bring these to patients!
Patient impact: a new way to cure disease 👉 Tome found the editing efficiency of Replace’s ligase system to be “far higher” than prime. Financial metrics: $185M acq in under 2 years of R&D. Priceless: @CivilizationVC is the 1st check 💸 supporting #biotech founders developing… https://t.co/N4CQy9qhlS
Patient impact: a new way to cure disease 👉 Tome found the gene editing efficiency of Replace’s ligase system to be “far higher” than prime. Financial metrics: $185M acq in under 2 years of R&D. Priceless: @CivilizationVC is the 1st check 💸 supporting #biotech founders… https://t.co/N4CQy9qhlS
Patient impact: a new way to cure disease 👉 Tome found the gene editing efficiency of Replace’s ligase system to be “far higher”. Financial metrics: $185M acq in under 2 years of R&D. Priceless: @CivilizationVC is the 1st check 💸 supporting #biotech founders developing… https://t.co/N4CQy9qhlS
Cat's out of the bag 🧬✂️- we're excited to announce our 9th exit (3rd fund exit in genomic medicines w/ Rewrite + @RocketPharma) with the sale of Replace Therapeutics to @Tome_bio for $185M in under 2 yrs. Congrats to @ShakkedHalperin + Replace team. https://t.co/3TagEA5VqT
We are happy to announce the acquisition by @Tome_bio of Replace Therapeutics, with @CivilizationVC as lead investor. I had the pleasure of serving on the Board with serial genomic medicine entrepreneur @ShakkedHalperin. We're excited to continue supporting the future of… https://t.co/ESxETT7J2r
We are happy to announce the acquisition by Tome of Replace Therapeutics, a company funded by @CivilizationVC where I had the pleasure of serving on the Board with serial genomic medicine entrepreneur @ShakkedHalperin. A new chapter in curative medicine. Onwards and upwards! https://t.co/ESxETT7J2r
We are happy to announce the acquisition by Tome of Replace Therapeutics, a company exclusively funded by @CivilizationVC where I had the pleasure of serving on the Board with serial genomic medicine entrepreneur @ShakkedHalperin. A new chapter in curative medicine. Onwards and… https://t.co/ESxETT7J2r
Thrilled to announce today that Tome has acquired Replace Therapeutics in a move that positions Tome to be the leader in gene integration and editing technologies. Tome now has the ability to make any sized edit, small or large, with completely distinct approaches and… https://t.co/vlPx2Fc7Ey
Just weeks after launching with $213 million, @Tome_bio has acquired a tiny startup called Replace Therapeutics for its gene editing tool that combines Cas9 and a DNA ligase to insert a piece of genetic code. Read more in my exclusive story for @endpts https://t.co/ci1sGspb94