Key points from article :
Flagship Pioneering is a life sciences– investment firm that prides itself on brainstorming dozens of high-risk, high-reward ideas for biotech companies.
The new start-up, Laronde, would develop therapies based on circular mRNA.
Raised a whopping $440 million series B financing, putting it on a trajectory for rapid growth.
Circular shape could make mRNA therapies safer and longer-lasting, and thus more effective.
Unpublished research demonstrates that circular eRNA is more stable than linear mRNA.
May also help shield eRNA from our bodies’ innate immune system sensors.
Diego Miralles, CEO of Laronde, claims that designing and testing eRNA therapies will be extremely fast.
The eRNA therapies are designed on computers using the genetic code for the protein that the firm wants the eRNA to produce.
Include antibodies, peptides, or large proteins encoded in eRNA for endocrine and genetic diseases.
“Anything that a protein can do, eRNA can do,” - Miralles.
