Flagship Pioneering, the Cambridge, Mass., life sciences investment firm that helped found Moderna over a decade ago, has unveiled a new company backed with $75 million to develop drugs for common conditions such as autoimmune disorders, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The startup, Vesalius Therapeutics, was founded at Flagship in 2019 on the premise that many common diseases remain underserved by drug companies. Biotech companies in particular often focus on developing therapies for rare genetic diseases, where a well-understood root cause of a condition provides a clear path for drug development.