Typewriter Therapeutics, Inc., a leading genetic medicines company focused on applying site-specific gene insertion technologies to help patients with unmet clinical need, today announces the appointment of Matthew Stanton, PhD, as an independent Board Director, and Garrett Heffner, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Stanton and Dr. Heffner to Typewriter’s Senior Leadership Team, as they both bring crucial expertise in delivering our vision to bring genetic medicines to patients,” said Ken Horne, CEO of Typewriter Therapeutics and Managing Partner of AN Ventures. “They join at an ideal time to build the company and scale our pipeline in the context of our proprietary technology platform.”
Dr. Stanton is a Venture Partner at RA Ventures (Raven). Prior to Raven, he spent seven years at Generation Bio, first as Chief Technology Officer and for the past five years as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to Generation, Dr. Stanton was Vice President and Head of Chemistry at Moderna Therapeutics. Before joining Moderna, he was head of siRNA chemistry at Merck, overseeing delivery chemistry and nucleotide chemistry. “I’m excited to join the team and will provide key guidance and on-site leadership to advance the all-RNA Typewriter gene delivery system,” said Dr. Stanton.
Dr. Heffner previously served concurrently as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven, focusing on genetic medicines, and Vice President of Research at Typewriter Therapeutics. Prior to Raven, he served as the VP of Gene Therapy at Voyager Therapeutics and held roles of increasing responsibility in ex vivo and in vivo genetic medicine modalities, including with Bluebird Bio, Audentes Therapeutics, and Ambys Medicines. “The Typewriter technology and our lead programs resonate with me personally as a way to avoid the toxicities and challenges of earlier generations of gene therapies, and bring better genetic medicines to patients in need,” said Dr. Heffner.
About Typewriter Therapeutics
Typewriter Therapeutics is a start-up company that focuses on the commercialization of mRNA-based gene therapies using a cutting-edge platform technology that enables the targeted insertion of therapeutic genes. Founded in February 2022, the company builds on the research of Professor Emeritus Haruhiko Fujiwara of the University of Tokyo on transposons. With research facilities in Tokyo and Cambridge, USA, Typewriter is committed to bringing Japan-originated technology to the global stage. The company aims to provide innovative gene therapies to patients suffering from severe genetic disorders. The company is financially backed by AN Venture Partners, RA Capital, and ANRI.
About AN Venture Partners
AN Venture Partners (ANV) is a multi-stage, global biotech venture capital firm specializing in bridging innovative science from Japan with the US start-up ecosystem. The firm was established in 2022 by a group of experienced venture capitalists from Japan and the United States, who have a wealth of experience building start-ups. ANV is committed to strengthening Japan’s biotech ecosystem and founded initiatives such as Science2Startup Japan to accelerate ecosystem growth. For more information, please visit www.an.vc.