As chief medical officer of Moderna, Tal Zaks used to be skeptical of genome editing.
Why repair a patient’s broken gene, he would ask, with all the havoc CRISPR can wreak on DNA, when a company like Moderna can just replace that gene with regular, transient doses of mRNA? (One reason: Moderna was having immense difficulty doing just that.)
On Tuesday, though, Zaks emerged after years outside the spotlight as, of all things, acting CEO of a new genome editing company. Called Exsilio Therapeutics, the startup emerged from stealth with $82 million in Series A funding and a seed round led by OrbiMed, where Zaks has been a partner since shortly after he left Moderna in 2021.
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