G2 Bio Companies Launch with $200 Million to Develop Transformative Genetic-Based Therapies

The G2 Bio Companies, founded by Passage Bio founders the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program, James Wilson, and Tachi Yamada, said it launched with a $200 million investment commitment from the global investment firm Temasek to accelerate the development of genetic-based therapies.

Photo: James Wilson, director of the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of G2 Bio Companies.

The G2 Bio Companies will fund and develop potential next-generation gene therapy candidates from the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program. The University of Pennsylvania and Wilson hold equity interests in the G2 Bio Companies and will be entitled to receive licensing revenues based on successful technology development and commercialization.

Penn’s Gene Therapy Program manages a portfolio of approximately 50 diseases and dozens of translational research projects using a variety of cutting-edge technologies, including gene therapy, gene editing, and mRNA therapeutic approaches using adeno-associated viruses or lipid nanoparticles. Its nearly 300-person research team engages in drug development research for the treatment of rare or orphan diseases, as well as acquired and pandemic infectious diseases.

“Our mission at the Gene Therapy Program is to discover, translate, and greatly accelerate the development and commercialization of life-transformative genetic-based therapeutics,” said Wilson, director of Penn’s Gene Therapy Program, the Orphan Disease Center, and professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Department of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “The G2 Bio Companies will leverage the Gene Therapy Program’s capabilities and its deep history in advancing the field of genetic therapeutics to reach more patients in need around the world, including those with more common, non-monogenic diseases.”

Author: Rare Daily Staff