Variant Emerges With $16M to Find “Outlier Humans” to Reveal New Drugs
Summary
Variant Emerges With $16M to Find “Outlier Humans” to Reveal New Drugs Human DNA holds secrets that, once uncovered, have led scientists to develop a number of treatments for disease. Variant Bio, which debuted Thursday with $16 million in Series A financing, is betting that its narrower strategy of identifying small groups of “outlier humans” with variations in DNA that affect disease risk will prove both quicker and cheaper. Founded in New York, the 10-person startup will—once restrictions imposed by the pandemic loosen—take root in Seattle under the oversight of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation alum Andrew Farnum. Over the past year Variant has partnered with groups on four continents based on research that indicates that those populations’ genetics could provide clues that may one day lead to drug discovery work in metabolic, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative disorders. In some ways the company’s aims aren’t dissimilar from bigger players doing similar work, such as Thousand Oaks, CA-based Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), with its genomics research subsidiary, deCODE, and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), which invested $300 million in 23andMe in July 2018 as part of a four-year deal to develop drugs based on the company’s genetic insights.
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