Verve Therapeutics

Overview

Verve Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing single-course genetic medicines intended to permanently lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Founded in 2018 by the cardiologist and human geneticist Sekar Kathiresan, the company applies base editing, a precise form of gene editing, to switch off genes in the liver that drive high cholesterol and other blood-lipid abnormalities. Verve's central idea is to shift heart-disease prevention away from lifelong daily pills and toward a one-time treatment that makes a durable change to a person's DNA. The rationale comes from human genetics, since some people are born with naturally inactive copies of certain genes, giving them low cholesterol and low rates of heart disease, and Verve aims to reproduce that protective state on purpose with a single dose. Kathiresan was previously associated with the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, and the company built its strategy around targets with strong human genetic validation before becoming publicly traded.

Technology

Verve's treatments are designed to work inside the body, an approach known as in vivo editing. Rather than removing and editing a patient's cells in a laboratory, Verve packages a base editor into lipid nanoparticles and delivers it, in the form of mRNA instructions, to liver cells through an intravenous infusion. The base editor then changes a single letter of DNA to disable the target gene. Base editing is significant because, unlike first-generation CRISPR systems that cut both strands of DNA, it chemically converts one DNA base to another without making a double-strand break, an approach intended to be more precise and to reduce certain safety risks. Verve's platform is one of the most prominent attempts to bring in-body base editing to a common chronic disease rather than a rare genetic disorder.

Programs and acquisition

Verve's pipeline centers on genes long tied to cardiovascular risk. Its lead programs target PCSK9, a gene whose inactivation lowers LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol; the company advanced candidates known as VERVE-101 and then VERVE-102, the latter receiving Fast Track designation from U.S. regulators. A separate program, VERVE-201, targets ANGPTL3, associated with elevated triglycerides and mixed dyslipidemia, and a further program aims at LPA, which governs lipoprotein(a), an inherited cardiovascular risk factor. Early clinical results reported reductions in PCSK9 protein and LDL cholesterol, though the therapies remained experimental and unapproved. In 2025 the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Verve in a deal valued at up to roughly 1.3 billion dollars, structured as an upfront cash payment plus a contingent value right tied to a late-stage clinical milestone. For Lilly, a major force in cardiometabolic medicine and in GLP-1 receptor agonists, the purchase added a base-editing cardiovascular pipeline and was read as a vote of confidence in one-time genetic treatments for widespread diseases.

Reception

Verve is often cited as a test case for whether in-body gene editing can move beyond rare inherited conditions to treat common diseases affecting millions of people. Its progress, and Lilly's acquisition, encouraged the view that durable genetic treatments could eventually complement or replace some daily medications. Observers have nonetheless raised questions about long-term safety, the durability and cost of the edits, and whether a permanent DNA change is the right tool for a condition already manageable with well-established drugs such as statins. Verve's therapies had not been approved for general use as of the mid-2020s.

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