Gunderson Dettmer represented client Moonwalk Biosciences, a genomic medicine company pioneering precision epigenetic medicines, in its Series A and Seed financings totaling $57 million. By targeting the epigenetic code – the software of the genome – Moonwalk aims to reprogram cells to their healthy state, fundamentally enabling a new approach to how therapies are discovered and developed. As the first company that couples an epigenetic discovery platform with precise engineering, Moonwalk is opening up the epigenome as a new target space for complex diseases.

The new capital is from Alpha Wave Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Future Ventures, GV, Khosla Ventures and YK Bioventures and will be used to continue the advancement of Moonwalk’s epigenetic profiling and engineering technology platform and progress its pipeline of epigenetic therapeutics towards the clinic.

In the announcement of the transaction, Moonwalk Biosciences CEO and Co-founder Alex Aravanis, M.D., Ph.D. said, “Epigenome engineering is the next frontier of genetic medicines, and we believe the most effective strategies require a deep understanding of the epigenetic landscape of cellular states. This emerging new field can create safer and more effective treatments for a broad range of diseases without damaging or changing the underlying DNA sequence.”

The Gunderson Dettmer deal team was led by Tim Ehrlich and Nate Gray, and included Jake Winton, Shu Hu, Margaret Lynch, Mark Foster and Tina Xu.

Companies
Moonwalk Biosciences