On October 12, 2022, life sciences venture capital firm ATP announced the launch of new biotechnology company Ascidian Therapeutics. ATP developed the company and provided $50 million of Series A financing.

Ascidian uses therapeutic targeting of large genes and genes with high mutational variance and focuses to treat human diseases through the replacement of mutated exons at the RNA level. This goes a step beyond what can currently be addressed by gene editing technologies and cuts the risk of DNA editing and manipulation. Ascidian’s president and chief executive officer is Romesh Subramanian, Ph.D., the former founder and CEO of Dyne Therapeutics. Michael Ehlers will be the chief scientific officer after leading the company’s incubation as the founding CEO. ATP has $2.65 billion of committed capital as one of the leading life sciences venture capital firms. The firm focuses on providing flexible capital and access to venture partners looking to provide therapeutics that improve human lives.

The Wilson Sonsini team that advises Ascidian includes Lou Lieto, Tom Owens, and David Habib on patent matters; Jason Skolnik, Jennifer Fang, Priyanka Nawathe, and Rozman Lynch on corporate matters; and Mark Bellomy and Zackory Burns on technology transactions matters.

For more information, please see ATP’s press release.