Agenovir Corporation

Agenovir Corporation was a biotechnology company focused on developing novel antiviral therapeutics by using computationally engineered nuclease technology, including CRISPR/Cas9, to disrupt and eliminate viral DNA. The company's primary mission was to develop treatments for diseases caused by latent or persistent viral reservoirs, for which treatment options are limited or non-existent.

Founded in 2014, Agenovir was based on technology developed in the Stanford University laboratory of co-founder Stephen Quake, D.Phil., a professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics. Other co-founders included Jianbin Wang and Angela Wu. The company was incubated at Johnson & Johnson's JLABS in South San Francisco. Bruce Hironaka served as the founding CEO. In December 2016, Dirk Thye, M.D., was appointed CEO.

In May 2016, Agenovir raised $10.6 million in a Series A financing round led by Data Collective (DCVC), with participation from Celgene Corporation and Lightspeed Venture Partners. This funding was intended to accelerate its research and development programs, with initial developmental programs targeting human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). The company's approach involved using gene-editing technology to create therapies that target and disrupt pathogenic viral genomes, demonstrating proof-of-concept data for infection-specific cell death.

In January 2018, Agenovir was acquired by Vir Biotechnology, Inc. for approximately $285 million and subsequently operated as a subsidiary. The acquisition included Agenovir's research and development programs in HPV and HBV, which utilized CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology. The deal structure included future milestone payments to former Agenovir stockholders of up to $270 million based on the achievement of specific development, regulatory, and sales milestones.

Keywords: antiviral therapeutics, CRISPR, gene editing, nuclease technology, latent viruses, viral reservoirs, human papillomavirus, HPV, hepatitis B virus, HBV, computational engineering, viral DNA disruption, virology, biotechnology, genome editing