5AM Ventures has a stealth new Boston-based startup in the works: Homology Medicines, which is launching with an initial $23 million investment, according to a regulatory filing. It’s being led by 5AM’s managing partner Kush Parmar, the filing says.
We’re waiting back to hear from 5AM Ventures to learn more about the company. In the meantime: Listed on the Homology Medicines filing is Harvard Stem Cell Institute researcher Dr. Richard Gregory, who focuses primarily on the role of regulatory RNA on the development of embryonic stem cells.
“A fundamental question in stem cell biology is what determines the self-renewal and pluripotency of stem cells,” Gregory writes on his website. He points out RNAi’s role in these processes – and that his lab’s identified certain miRNAs that “are likely candidate genes for several human diseases.”
Gregory, working with other laboratories, is characterizing the expression profiles of these miRNAs – sequencing patient samples to identify which mutations on miRNA genes could contribute to disease phenotypes. Some clues to Homology Medicines’ direction can be found in Gregory’s academic publications.
A number of startups are already in the RNAi and miRNA space, such as Alnylam, Mirna Therapeutics and Solstice Biologics.
Our wager? A new, homologous competitor’s in town.
