Fixing DNA Like a Typo: Vincent Forster, Nerai (EP#565)

This episode was co-produced with ⁠⁠KickFund⁠⁠, a VC fund investing in the most promising Swiss deeptech startups.

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Episode description:
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Vincent Forster is the CEO and Co-founder of Nerai, a Swiss biotech developing a new generation of more precise and scalable genome-editing tools for rare genetic diseases. Before starting Nerai, Vincent founded and led Versantis, which was acquired by GENFIT in 2022. Now a second-time founder, he is applying what he learned from turning scientific innovation into real medical products to a new mission: making sure no genetic disease is considered too rare to treat.

In this episode, we discuss why a breakthrough technology is only the beginning, and why execution and translation are what ultimately turn science into patient impact. Vincent explains how Nerai is building a platform rather than a single treatment, using AI and high-throughput protein engineering to create genome editors that can be adapted across multiple rare diseases.

We also explore how biotech founders can manage long development timelines, choose where to focus when their technology has many potential applications, and build a capital-efficient model around partnerships, reusable technology, and regulatory alignment.

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