Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Drew Weissman has co-founded a new biotech company in Ambler with the mission of reversing liver damage using mRNA technology, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
MasterSwitch Bio collaborates with labs at both the UPenn and the University of Pittsburgh. The company’s lead therapy uses modified mRNA to treat end-stage liver disease caused by MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), a condition marked by liver scarring and impaired protein production.
Weissman is best known for pioneering work on mRNA vaccines alongside Katalin Kariko, helping to revolutionize the COVID-19 vaccine response. Now, he’s turning that same science toward liver regeneration. His co-founders, Dr. Ira Fox and Dr. Alex Soto-Gutierrez, are liver disease specialists based in Pittsburgh.
Earlier this month, MasterSwitch stepped into the spotlight, winning the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center’s entrepreneur spotlight pitch competition in Doylestown. The prize: a $250,000 investment from the Hatch Biofund, an early-stage venture capital fund.
CEO Topher Brooke said the funding will support preclinical and toxicology studies. With just three full-time employees and a network of consultants, the Ambler-based startup is keeping lean while pushing scientific boundaries.
Learn more about the pitch competition and MasterSwitch Bio of Ambler’s plans in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
