Sept. 15 Quick Takes: Khosla seeds Cas13 company Carver

Khosla-backed Carver Biosciences Inc. joins a small group of companies turning gene editing technologies on viral RNA to fight viral infections. Based on research from the labs of Cameron Myhrvold at Princeton University, the company is using Cas13 to treat RNA respiratory viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus. It plans to use its undisclosed seed funding to conduct proof-of-concept experiments with the Cas13 system in disease models internally and through CROs. Other companies including Excision BioTherapeutics Inc. and Exavir Therapeutics Inc. are applying CRISPR to treat latent viral infections such as HIV/AIDS.

Founded by Yale University’s Akiko Iwasaki and Anna Marie Pyle,  RIGImmune Inc. debuted Thursday by announcing the acquisition of antiviral company Subintro Ltd. and an investment from F-Prime Capital. The Farmington, Conn.-based biotech is developing stemloop RNA therapeutics that selectively activate the innate immune sensor retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I), a cytosolic sensor protein and host surveillance pathway essential to the innate immune response to RNA viruses and tumor DNA.  F-Prime’s Nihal Sinha will join RIGImmune’s board; neither the size of F-Prime’s investment nor any amounts paid to Subintro were disclosed. Subintro co-founder Garth Rapeport is a partner at F-Prime. ...