NEW YORK — Gene editing technology firm Synthego said Wednesday that it has divested its engineered cell and CRISPR guide RNA business into an independent firm called EditCo Bio.
In conjunction with its launch, Redwood City, California-based EditCo received an undisclosed amount of investment financing from venture capital firm Telegraph Hill Partners.
According to Synthego, EditCo will focus on the development and manufacture of optimized CRISPR guide RNAs and edited cells for cell biology and gene therapy research customers. It will be led by CEO John Tan, who previously served as Synthego's president and chief operating officer, as well as CSO Travis Maures, formerly Synthego's chief technology officer.
"CRISPR continues to demonstrate its power to accelerate progress across the drug discovery pipeline and will ultimately lead to more and better validated drugs entering the clinic," Maures said in a statement. "EditCo's products and manufacturing operations have already been proven within Synthego, enabling us to immediately initiate commercial operations."
Synthego, which raised $200 million about two years ago, said that it would focus on therapeutic applications of CRISPR going forward under a newly appointed CEO.