Moonwalk Biosciences – a genomic medicine company pioneering precision epigenetic medicines – recently announced the completion of $57 million in seed and Series A financing from Alpha Wave Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Future Ventures, GV, Khosla Ventures and YK Bioventures. The funding will support the continued advancement of Moonwalk’s epigenetic profiling and engineering technology platform and progress its pipeline of epigenetic therapeutics toward the clinic.
By targeting the epigenetic code – which is the software of the genome – Moonwalk aims to reprogram cells to their healthy state, fundamentally enabling a new approach to how therapies are discovered and developed. And Moonwalk is the first company that couples an epigenetic discovery platform with precise engineering – opening up the epigenome as a new target space for complex diseases. Moonwalk’s focus on epigenetic engineering utilizes comprehensive read-and-write technologies to develop potentially curative therapies for a variety of different diseases at the root cause level.
Moonwalk was founded by Alex Aravanis, M.D., Ph.D., Arash Jamshidi, Ph.D., and Justin Valley, Ph.D., leaders in biotechnology who bring decades of proven execution on translating complex science into clinical products, and scientific co-founder Feng Zhang, Ph.D., core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, McGovern Institute investigator, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The company’s goal is to develop effective, safe, and durable epigenetic medicines that leverage the most comprehensive insights on cellular epigenetics to date across a variety of indications.
The existing methods for gene editing involve altering DNA by cutting or making small breaks, which can be risky due to unpredictable repair processes and changes to its sequence. And these methods also typically target known genes.
Moonwalk’s epigenetic editors work differently, using the cell’s natural regulation system to control multiple genes accurately and permanently in a single step without altering the DNA sequence itself. And this pioneering technique, enhanced by unparalleled insights from Moonwalk’s AI-driven profiling technologies, enables the company to address multiple factors involved in complex conditions more effectively, minimizing off-target effects and toxicities while leaving the primary DNA sequence intact.
Moonwalk is launching with a veteran leadership team with deep expertise in epigenetic biology, AI, and clinical product development:
— Alex Aravanis, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
— Arash Jamshidi, Ph.D., Co-Founder, President and Chief Technology Officer
— Justin Valley, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
— Elaine Cheung, M.S., Chief Business Officer
— Sam Gross, Ph.D., Head of Bioinformatics & ML/AI
— Rigel Kishton, Ph.D., Head of Immunology Research
KEY QUOTES:
“Epigenetics is the software of the genome. While changes to the genome are irreversible, edits to the epigenome can be reprogrammed in different ways. Epigenetic changes determine whether genes are turned on or off, and can potentially reverse disease, broadening the therapeutic landscape to find potential cures previously thought impossible. Epigenome engineering is the next frontier of genetic medicines, and we believe the most effective strategies require a deep understanding of the epigenetic landscape of cellular states. This emerging new field can create safer and more effective treatments for a broad range of diseases without damaging or changing the underlying DNA sequence.”
— Alex Aravanis, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder, Moonwalk Biosciences
“Historically, the epigenome was poorly understood. Moonwalk is operating at a different level of biology, by profiling and unlocking our understanding of the epigenome to enable more precise engineering. The company’s novel platform technology provides the highest-resolution, complete view of the epigenome in health and disease to uniquely address unmet medical needs across various indications, including complex diseases. The team has developed the most advanced AI prediction of epigenetic targets, and the broadest set of epigenetic engineering tools to develop potentially curative therapies. Moonwalk’s epigenetic engineering platform represents an exciting new era in genetic medicine, by targeting the root cause of disease.”
— Rick Gerson, Chairman of Alpha Wave Global
“It is rare to have the privilege to back two founders, Drs. Aravanis and Zhang, together, each of whom ARCH has backed before in successful companies that broke scientific ground. We look forward to what new innovations Moonwalk can advance in epigenetic engineering.”
— Robert Nelsen, Managing Director and Co-Founder, ARCH Venture Partners
