Versant backs Crispr Therapeutics in €25m deal

The capital injection will allow the Swiss company to translate its technology into new gene medicines, with the aim to cure serious genetic diseases at the molecular level. It is understood the biotech also plans to grow its research operations in London and bolster its team.

According to Crispr CEO Rodger Novak, the company's founders knew the investors at Versant for some time and both parties agreed that working together would be beneficial. Crispr initially received financial support from pharmaceutical backers before raising its first round of institutional financing.

The biotech has tentative plans to look for additional, non-dilutive capital in the next six to nine months, in the form of grants, partnering with other biotech and pharmaceutical companies, or bringing another investor on board.

Versant has already invested in a Basel-based pharmaceutical company this month, injecting CHF 11m into Piqur, a spinout from the University of Basel focusing on the discovery and development of anti-cancer drugs.

Company
Founded in 2014, Basel-headquartered Crispr was created to translate gene-editing technology into transformative medicines for serious genetic diseases. The company has a management team of two, backed by five scientific founders.

Genome-editing technologies enable the deletion, insertion or correction of DNA at specific targeted sites within an organism's genome. The application was only discovered a year ago but has already transformed the field, according to Crispr, opening the door to potentially curing diseases caused by genetic defects.

People
Rodger Novak is the CEO of Crispr. Tom Woiwode is a managing director at Versant and will take a seat on the Crispr board of directors.

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