← Back to Companies

Latus Bio

Biotechnology company developing novel gene therapy candidates for central nervous system disorders using proprietary AAV capsid variants with enhanced potency and specificity.

Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania & Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Founded
2024
Categories
biotech, gene-therapy, cns-disorders, aav, rare-disease

Notes

Latus Bio is a biotechnology company dedicated to addressing devastating central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral diseases through gene therapy. Founded from technology developed in Professor Beverly Davidson's lab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Latus is advancing an innovative therapeutics pipeline based on novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid variants with unprecedented potency and specificity.

The company launched in May 2024 with $54 million in Series A financing co-led by 8VC and DCVC Bio. Latus has developed a platform for screening tens of millions of engineered AAVs to identify capsids best suited for targeting specific cells and tissues within the CNS.

Lead programs target Huntington's Disease and CLN2 (Batten Disease).

Team

  • P. Peter Ghoroghchian, M.D., Ph.D. - Chief Executive Officer
  • Jang-Ho Cha, M.D., Ph.D. - Chief Science and Medical Officer
  • Ainslie Little - Chief Operating Officer
  • Katie Hewitt - Chief Business Officer
  • John Connelly, MBA - Chief Development Officer
  • George Yohrling, Ph.D. - Executive Director, Development
  • Jenna Soper, Ph.D. - Executive Director, Program Management
  • Kerry Eischen - Director, Quality Operations

Scientific Advisory Board

  • Beverly Davidson, Ph.D. - Founder, Chair of SAB (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)
  • Sarah Tabrizi, FRCP, FMedSci, Ph.D. - UCL Institute of Neurology
  • Angela Schulz, M.D. - University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
  • Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, M.D., Ph.D. - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Board of Directors

  • Francisco Gimenez - Partner, 8VC
  • Kiersten Stead - Managing Partner, DCVC Bio
  • David Piacquad - Independent Director

Additional Research Findings

  • In BioAdvance portfolio
  • $54 million Series A financing (May 2024) co-led by 8VC and DCVC Bio
  • Novel AAV-Ep+ capsid variant with unprecedented protein production in brain
  • AAV-DB-3 capsid optimized for basal ganglia diseases
  • Lead programs: Huntington's Disease and CLN2 (Batten Disease)
  • AI/ML strategy expansion announced November 2025
  • Offices in Philadelphia, PA and Seaport district of Boston, MA

Sources