Tessera Therapeutics has built a GENE WRITING platform that programs Mobile Genetic Elements to write and rewrite DNA in human cells. The platform can change any base pair to any other, make small insertions or deletions, and write entire genes into the genome using delivery of only RNA. Tessera has evaluated and engineered tens of thousands of natural and synthetic MGEs and further optimizes candidates for efficiency, specificity, and fidelity. The company positions GENE WRITING as a distinct approach from nuclease-based editing (e.g., CRISPR) with potential applications across genetic diseases, cancer, and preventive medicines. Tessera says the technology could enable curative, scalable, and easily administered genetic medicines both in vivo and ex vivo. Financially, the company announced it raised over $300 million in a Series C to advance the platform and its mission of curing disease by writing in the code of life. Tessera Therapeutics, founded by Flagship Pioneering and unveiled in July 2020, is developing a platform called Gene Writing that can change base pairs, make small insertions or deletions, and write entire genes into the genome. The company says its platform can engineer somatic genomes without double-stranded breaks and with minimal reliance on host DNA repair, permanently add new DNA to dividing cells, and deliver new sequences using only RNA. Tessera positions Gene Writing as a distinct approach that overcomes limits of nuclease-based gene editing and AAV-based gene therapy. The technology is intended to expand the range of diseases tractable by genetic approaches, including cardiovascular, oncological, neurodegenerative, and infectious diseases. Tessera plans to use new capital to accelerate research and development, expand its team, and build manufacturing and automation capabilities to advance multiple therapeutic programs toward clinical development.

Total raised

$530M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Apr 2022