The Gene-Editing Revolution with Verve Therapeutics

On this episode of FYI, ARK Analyst Ali Urman is joined by Verve Therapeutics CEO Sek Kathiresan and Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Bellinger. Verve, a biotechnology company, was created with the sole focus of protecting the world from heart disease. For many years, institutions have approached cardiovascular disease with a chronic care model, prescribing medications to help reduce symptoms and complications, such as heart attack and high blood pressure. Verve Therapeutics wants to change that model. Founded in 2018, Verve was created with the idea that we can develop a one-and-done gene-editing medicine to permanently lower LDL cholesterol to treat heart attack, the world’s leading cause of death.

In today’s episode, Dr. Kathiresan and Dr. Bellinger weigh in on the development of gene-editing and its impacts on cardiovascular disease. They discuss gene-editing costs, the importance of lowering LDL cholesterol levels, importance of liver delivery, their PCSK9 program, and why it could be revolutionary for the future of cardiovascular health. For the past four years, Verve has worked to develop proof of concept in monkeys specifically. Gene-editing therapies, such as Verves, could help create longer term health for patients. Listen in to learn more!

“When people think about gene editing they are immediately thinking rare disease pricing and millions of dollars per dose … that’s not going to be our model because we ultimately want to reach millions of patients” – @skathire Key Points From This Episode:

An introduction to Verve Therapeutics
Dr. Kathiresan’s inspiration for treating cardiovascular disease
Issues with the chronic care model
Development of PCSK9
Overcoming the unmet need of the LDL care
Thinking about healthcare from the upstream approach
How COVID vaccines have shown feasibility in development
How the pipeline continues emerging
Challenges of nanoparticles being picked up by the liver
Developing a new therapy with homozygous monkey model
Difference between healthy vs. heterozygous patients
How costs affect the work and role of COVID MRNA
Off-target editing
What we need to get to market quicker
Engaging with Twitter to advance the conversation
Data visualization