Leadership
John Klepper
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
Serial entrepreneur · Company building
John is a serial entrepreneur with exits and experience in capital raising, company building, public speaking and commercial strategy.
ViroDyn.
Repairing inflammatory disease,
starting with Crohn’s.
ViroDyn develops gene-editing therapies designed to address the genetic drivers of disease, starting in the cells that renew the gut lining.
About ViroDyn
Repair the cause.
Change the course.
Our lead programme, VD-101, is designed to correct genetic defects linked to Crohn’s disease and restore function in the gut lining.
Our lead programme
VD-101 · Crohn’s disease.
Preclinical developmentVD-101 targets genetic defects that disrupt how gut cells sense bacteria and clear damaged material.
We combine computational biology with gene editing to develop a therapy designed to repair those defects in the stem cells that renew the gut lining. Our next milestone is to demonstrate restored cellular function in human gut models.
01
Repair.
Develop precise genetic corrections for the cells that renew the gut lining.
02
Restore.
Aim to restore bacterial sensing and clearance at the source of inflammation.
03
Validate.
Verify genetic correction and measure functional recovery in matched human gut models.
Our moonshot
Starting with Crohn’s.
Building beyond it.
Repairing inflammatory disease starts with its genetic drivers.
We are building a repeatable approach to therapeutic development: identify disease-driving defects from human data, design genetic corrections and validate restored function in human tissue models.
Crohn’s is our first programme. Our ambition is to build a broader platform for genetic repair.
Lead programme
Crohn’s disease.
Advance VD-101 through genetic correction and functional validation in human gut models.
Our approach
Genetic repair.
Develop precise corrections designed to restore function in disease-relevant cells.
Long-term ambition
Broader impact.
Build on our work in Crohn’s to address inflammatory disease more widely.
Crohn’s remains our development priority. Broader applications will require their own validation.
Our story
A personal reason
to change Crohn’s.
Alex Humphries, ViroDyn’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, lives with Crohn’s disease. He knows the burden of lifelong treatment and the need for a different approach.
That experience drives ViroDyn’s mission: develop therapies that repair the genetic drivers of disease and give patients a better future.
Our team
The people behind ViroDyn.
Company builders, scientists and advisers bringing together therapeutic development, gene editing and programme delivery.
Leadership
Lead scientists
Advisers
Leadership
Alex Humphries
Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Computational systems biology · Crohn’s disease
Alex is a published computational systems biologist specialising in Crohn’s disease, causal modelling and therapeutic target discovery.
Leadership
Sinan Weston
Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer
UZH Zurich · Master’s in computational biology and genetic engineering
Sinan leads ViroDyn’s strategy, operations and programme delivery.
Lead scientists
Dr Owen Wells
Head of Quality Control & Lab Oversight
Genome stability · Gene therapy · GLP compliance
Owen is a genome stability specialist with extensive Oxford Biomedica experience in gene therapy, DNA repair, GLP compliance and laboratory oversight. At ViroDyn, he is Head of Quality Control & Lab Oversight.
University profile for Owen Wells (opens in a new tab)
Lead scientists
Prof Helfrid Hochegger
Lab Operations
Cancer Research UK-funded professor · Genome stability
Helfrid is a Cancer Research UK-funded professor and genome stability expert, pioneering cell-cycle research and therapeutic target discovery. At ViroDyn, he leads laboratory operations.
University profile for Helfrid Hochegger (opens in a new tab)
Advisers
Dr Antony Oliver
Scientific Adviser
Structural biology · DNA repair · Protein engineering
Antony is an internationally published structural biologist specialising in DNA repair enzymes, protein engineering and structure-guided drug discovery.
University profile for Antony Oliver (opens in a new tab)
Advisers
Prof Simon Mitchell
Computational Adviser
Computational systems biology · Immune regulation
Simon is a computational systems biologist specialising in cell signalling, immune regulation and mathematical modelling of disease mechanisms.
University profile for Simon Mitchell (opens in a new tab)Contact
Where should
we begin?
For partnerships, investment or questions about ViroDyn, get in touch.
Collaborate
Bring expertise, technology or development capabilities to our therapeutic programmes.
Email about collaborationGeneral public
Have a question about ViroDyn or our therapeutic programmes?
Email your questionInvestors
Discuss VD-101, our development milestones and the opportunity to build ViroDyn with us.
Email an investor enquiry