Mammoth Biosciences is applying CRISPR technology to diagnosis and treatment. CEO Trevor Martin said that the company is using the CRISPR enzyme, and its smaller size provides an advantage that enables the technology to perform gene editing in vivo.
Mammoth Biosciences is a start-up company established three years ago to introduce CRISPR technology into the diagnostic field and then expand its scope to the therapeutic field. The company has announced a financing of US$195 million, enabling the company to invest in these two areas. move forward.
The financing is actually two rounds: Mammoth announced a $150 million Series D financing on Thursday, and the previously unannounced $45 million Series C financing ended at the end of 2020. The total amount raised the South San Francisco-based Mammoth into a unicorn-a company valued at more than $1 billion.
So why did the Mammoth not announce the Series C financing in time when it happened? Trevor Martin, co-founder and CEO of Mammoth, pointed out that Covid-19 has kept the company busy over the past year. Mammoth has been developing a coronavirus diagnosis method based on the company’s previous infectious disease research. More than a year ago, FDA grants emergency use authorization Used for Mammoth Covid-19 diagnosis in a laboratory environment.
Mammoth is based on the research of the company’s co-founder Jennifer Doudna, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. Last year, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on CRISPRMammoth Diagnostics uses CRISPR proteins to locate DNA targets. Once the target is found, the protein acts as a “molecular shredder”, cutting it out for testing.
Martin said Mammoth is developing a test that can provide polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic accuracy, but in a shorter time and without the temperature changes required by the PCR process. The goal is a room temperature test that produces results within 30 minutes.Mammoth Cooperate with GlaxoSmithKline to focus on developing test technology Become a smaller handheld form, so that it can be used outside the laboratory environment.
“We want to basically take the type of molecular testing currently limited to the laboratory and bring it to the office, the workplace, and of course the home,” Martin said.
In terms of treatment, Mammoth’s goal is to use CRISPR to achieve gene therapy. The company’s research focuses on two CRISPR proteins, namely Cas 14 and CasPhi. Both are smaller than the more widely known Cas9 protein, a feature that is important to the company’s plan to develop CRISPR therapies that edit genes in vivo or in patients. As part of the treatment, the smaller size of the Cas14 allows a larger capacity to carry additional cargo. Martin said it is too early to discuss the specific diseases the company aims to treat. But he took central nervous system diseases as an example to illustrate the types of diseases that challenge drug delivery, and the smaller size of Cas14 provides advantages.
since Mammoth’s Series B financing in January 2020, The company has grown from about 30 employees to more than 110 today. Martin said that the latest financing will support plans to expand the treatment team and invest in the treatment pipeline, which has entered preclinical research. He said that looking forward to the future, some of these work can be continued in cooperation with large companies with expertise to introduce these therapies into clinical development more quickly.
The D round of financing was led by Redmile Group, followed by Foreste Capital, Senator Investment Group, Sixth Street, Mayfield, Decheng Capital and NFX. Redmile also led the C round of financing, which also includes Redmile and Foreste, as well as other early investors, including Amazon, which is now disclosed.
Photo by Mammoth Biosciences
