With decades in gene ther­a­py un­der his belt, Ronald Crys­tal launch­es new ven­ture with up to 18 can­di­dates in the pipe

Ronald Crys­tal be­gan work­ing in gene ther­a­py in the 1980s, long be­fore the first wave of ap­provals shook the in­dus­try. He took his ideas to Weill Cor­nell Med­i­cine in 1993, where he helped build a large gene ther­a­py pro­gram and spent more than a decade de­vel­op­ing po­ten­tial can­di­dates.

Now, the gene ther­a­py long hauler is launch­ing his own com­pa­ny, Lex­eo Ther­a­peu­tics, with an $85 mil­lion Se­ries A to dri­ve three of the com­pa­ny’s AAV-ad­min­is­tered can­di­dates to mar­ket, it said Thurs­day. Crys­tal will take the role of chief sci­en­tif­ic ad­vis­er with Pfiz­er vet­er­an Nolan Townsend join­ing as CEO.

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