Walder Wyss berät Versant Ventures im Zusammenhang mit der Lancierung von Vector BioPharma. Das Team besteht aus Alexander Gutmans (Partner, Transaction/M&A & Venture Capital), Karina Tschon (Associate, Transaction/M&A & Venture Capital), Manuel Bigler (Managing Associate, IP/Licensing) und Lucas Maurer (Associate, Transaction/M&A & Venture Capital).
Team von Walder Wyss
Walder Wyss berät Versant Ventures im Zusammenhang mit der Lancierung von Vector BioPharma. Das Team besteht aus Alexander Gutmans (Partner, Transaction/M&A & Venture Capital), Karina Tschon (Associate, Transaction/M&A & Venture Capital), Manuel Bigler (Managing Associate, IP/Licensing) und Lucas Maurer (Associate, Transaction/M&A & Venture Capital).
Information von Versant Ventures über die Lancierung von Vector BioPharma AG
Versant Ventures informierte wie folgt über die Lancierung von Vector BioPharma AG:
Versant Ventures today announced the debut of Vector BioPharma AG, a biopharmaceutical company developing a precision gene delivery platform that is devoid of viral genes. Versant has made a $30 million Series A commitment to Vector, which is the most recent company to be launched out of the firm’s Ridgeline Discovery Engine based in Basel, Switzerland.
Vector’s platform was developed in the laboratory of Andreas Plückthun, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of protein engineering and professor at the University of Zürich. There, he engineered a virus-like particle to achieve cell- and tissue-specific delivery of large genetic cargo with high specificity.
The platform combines high-capacity virus-like particles with designed, exogenous, high-avidity adapter proteins. The vectors are devoid of viral genes and thus offer reduced immunogenicity, while the adapters precisely direct delivery of DNA-encoding therapeutics to defined epitopes on target cells or tissues.
Finally, the viral capsid is engineered and shielded from the immune system, providing a safe and stable delivery system that carries complex and multiple gene cassettes with a large genome packaging capacity of up to 36 kb. This compares favorably with conventional viral gene delivery technologies such as AAV that are only capable of packaging 4.7 kb. The use of DNA for delivery enables tunable and regulatable expression of single or multiple genes in the same delivery vehicle.
Collectively, Vector’s platform technology has the potential to transform the safety, efficacy, and specificity of biologics, cell and gene therapies.
“It is gratifying to see the work that started 10 years ago is now being translated into new therapies,” said Dr. Plückthun. “I look forward to working closely with the Vector team to bring these treatments to patients.”
“Versant has made several important investments in genetic medicine, including founding Crispr Therapeutics, and we believe that Vector represents a new wave of innovation in this space,” said Markus Enzelberger, Ph.D., Partner at Versant and a Vector board member.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Lorenz, Andreas and the team to advance Vector’s rationally designed gene delivery technology,” said Alex Mayweg, Ph.D., Managing Director at Versant and a Vector board member. “With its platform and growing pipeline, the company is positioned to fundamentally advance the field of genetic medicine and treat important diseases.”
