eGenesis’ co-founder and Chief Science Officer, Luhan Yang, recently was named a Young Global Leader in the class of 2017 of the World Economic Forum, while the company also just announced its $38 million Series A funding raise to continue their research into xenotransplantation.
According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration there are over 118,000 people in need of organ transplants in the United States, and 22 of them die every day because of a lack of donor organs. eGenesis leverages genome-editing and their CRISPR-based technological platform to produce effective and safe transplantable cells, organs, and tissues for humans by growing them in pigs. Although the approach is still in early stages, it is this work that Dr. Yang is receiving the honor for, as well as other professional accomplishments.
“It is an honor to be selected among such compassionate and talented individuals,” Dr. Yang said. “I look forward to joining my peers in the Young Global Leaders community to learn from our collective experiences and continue to lead global change.” Yang holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Life Sciences from Peking University in Beijing, China, as well as a Ph.D. in Human Biology and Translational Medicine from Harvard.
The Young Global Leader honor is awarded every year by the World Economic Forum to recognize leaders under the age of 40 worldwide with the goal to construct a globe-spanning community of individuals who will learn from each other’s diverse skillsets to address challenges, both local and global.
Other inductees from the past include Anderson Cooper, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tarun Khanna, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Sergi Brin.
The Series A raise was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and Biomatics Capital, with Alta Partners, Heritage Provider Network, Alexandria Venture Investments, Khosla Ventures, and several others participating.
“The concept of xenotransplantation has been explored for decades as a potential answer to the scarcity of human organs and tissue,” said the Managing Director of Biomatics Capital, Boris Nikolic, M.D. “Now, with the breakthrough engineering and technology of eGenesis, it is on track to become a reality.”
