Pfizer ($PFE) announced earlier this month that it is financing the drug discovery efforts of four early-stage companies to the tune of a combined $46 million, including 4D Molecular Therapeutics, the maker of a platform for the delivery of gene vectors. In addition, the Big Pharma gained an option to exclusively license at least one adeno-associated virus for cardiac disease targets as a result of the transaction.
Using its Directed Vector Evolution platform, Emeryville, CA’s, 4D Molecular Therapeutics says it can create a “library” of 100 million gene vectors and find the dozen or so most promising variants for a particular payload’s delivery based on a selection process that’s carried out over the course of a year. Then the normal version of the defective gene that is associated with the targeted disease is inserted into the vector, according to the company website.
