Nearly a decade ago, consultants delivered to Rodger Novak a kind of Sears catalog of human malady: 200 pages, listing dozens of different diseases, each annotated with — from a business standpoint — their best and worst attributes.
The document was supposed to help Novak, then the chief executive of CRISPR Therapeutics, navigate a pressing quandary. His company, along with two others, were founded to commercialize the new revolutionary gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, which promised to cure numerous genetic diseases. But which should they target first? What was the best proof-of-concept?
advertisement
“We looked at anything and everything,” said Novak, who stepped down as CEO in 2017 but remained on the board until this year.
Get unlimited access to award-winning journalism and exclusive events.
Subscribe Log In
Previous article：
Why the quest to eradicate polio has stumbled
Next article： Apple is now the first public company to be valued at $3 trillion
Next article： Apple is now the first public company to be valued at $3 trillion
