Business Insider: GreenLight named as one of six biotechs VCs are watching

GreenLight Biosciences is listed in Business Insider as one of the leading emerging biotechs tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

GreenLight Biosciences is listed in Business Insider as one of the leading emerging biotechs tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, including producing messenger RNA. Extracts from the article are below:

Founded in 2008, Boston-based Greenlight Biosciences says it has developed a commercial method to produce mRNA for both life and plant sciences applications without the use of cells. Typically, mRNA production for academic research requires the use of cell culture. It’s a time-consuming, specialized process that is not able to be reproduced at a larger scale.

Two of the leading coronavirus vaccines — made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna — use mRNA.

In June, Greenlight raised a $102 million Series D, bringing its total funding to $215 million. In September, the company also received $3.3 million from the Gates Foundation to develop mRNA-based therapies for sickle-cell disease.

CEO Andrey Zarur told CNBC in November that Greenlight also had its own preclinical COVID-19 vaccine in the works. In January, Zarur penned an op-ed for STAT, urging the biotech industry to collaborate.

“Now is not the time for those involved in developing and manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines to hold their cards tightly to their chests,” Zarur said in the op-ed.  “We must work together and commit to helping each other.”

Read the full article here.

Find out more about how GreenLight manufactures RNA here.