Dr. Drew Weissman, a University of Pennsylvania researcher and Nobel Prize winner, has co-founded a new Ambler-based company called MasterSwitch Bio, The Philadelphia Business Journal reported.

The biotech startup will operate largely as a virtual company with labs at UPenn and the University of Pittsburgh and is focused on using mRNA to treat liver disease.

According to the Journal, MasterSwitch Bio “is developing a modified mRNA therapy to reverse cirrhosis, a condition in which scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue, and restore the body’s ability to make needed proteins.”

Dr. Weissman, a director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation and a professor in vaccine research, and his UPenn colleague Katalin Karikó of Abington Township were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize for their discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

MasterSwitch Bio won $250,000 in an entrepreneur spotlight pitch competition held by the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center of Bucks County earlier this year, the Journal said.

Photo: Penn Medicine