Overview
- Preventive, founded in 2025 by gene-editing scientist Lucas Harrington, is based in San Francisco and has raised about $30 million to study embryo editing to prevent severe inherited disease.
- The Wall Street Journal identified OpenAI chief Sam Altman and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong as early investors, with Altman’s husband Oliver Mulherin saying he led their investment and Armstrong expressing public support.
- Harrington says the company is conducting rigorous preclinical work, plans to publish results, and is not preparing to implant an edited embryo or working with a couple to do so.
- Federal law prevents the FDA from considering trials that would use genome-edited embryos to start pregnancies, and people familiar with the company said it has explored jurisdictions such as the United Arab Emirates.
- Scientists and ethicists cite the He Jiankui case in warning of safety risks and possible eugenic implications, even as Preventive’s charter frames a public-benefit mission focused on preventing disease.