Limelight Bio

About Limelight Bio

Limelight Bio was a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2016, with operations in Philadelphia and Cambridge, aimed at developing novel gene therapies to overcome the limitations of existing treatments. The company was co-founded by Dr. Jean Bennett of the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and Dr. Phil Johnson, former Chief Scientific Officer of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Bennett's research was foundational to an FDA-approved gene therapy product, and Dr. Johnson's work has been significant in virology and gene therapy.

The company focused on creating treatments for a range of severe genetic diseases, including those affecting the retina, as well as hematologic, metabolic, neurologic, and hearing loss disorders for which no effective therapies existed. Limelight Bio's proprietary technology platforms were designed to correct large and complex genetic defects without the risk of permanent genomic alteration, a limitation of some contemporary adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based therapies. The business model was centered on advancing its drug candidates through the R&D pipeline, enabled by a significant partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Advanced Retinal and Ocular Therapies (CAROT).

In December 2019, Limelight Bio announced it had raised $75 million in financing from Apple Tree Partners (ATP), a life sciences venture capital firm that created and funded the company. This brought its total funding to approximately $89 million. Michael Ehlers, former Head of R&D at Biogen, was appointed CEO in October 2019 to lead the company's development efforts. However, Limelight Bio was later closed, and certain rights for its rare retinal disease gene therapies were returned to the University of Pennsylvania.