Jim Wilson’s latest gene therapy start-up raises $34 million

GEMMA Biotherapeutics, the start-up that gene therapy pioneer Jim Wilson founded earlier this year, has raised $34 million in its first venture financing since its launch.

The investment firms Double Point Ventures, Bioluminescence Ventures, and Earlybird Venture Capital co-led the seed round announced on Monday. GEMMABio says it will use the funds to develop new gene therapies for rare diseases but offered no details regarding specific conditions or development timelines.

Wilson has cofounded a number of gene therapy firms: Passage Bio in 2019, G2 Bio in 2021, and iECURE in 2021. Those start-ups maintained a close relationship with his lab at the University of Pennsylvania. But this summer, when Wilson announced the launch of GEMMABio and companion contract research organization Franklin Biolabs, he also said he would be leaving the University of Pennsylvania.

The Gene Therapy Program that Wilson had led at the university for more than 20 years was discontinued on Oct. 1, the same day the two start-ups formally launched. Wilson now serves as president and CEO of GEMMABio.

GEMMABio says it is “actively seeking strategic partners” for its gene therapy programs. The start-up so far has one collaboration agreement, with the Brazilian public health research institution Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The organization agreed in October to fund up to $100 million for clinical research and manufacturing for six programs, including potential treatments for GM1 gangliosidosis, a genetic disorder that destroys neurons in the brain and spinal cord; Krabbe disease, another genetic disorder affecting the protective myelin sheaths that cover nerve cells; and metachromatic leukodystrophy, a genetic disorder involving the buildup of lipids in the nervous system.