Jessica Alston, Ph.D.
Partner
About
Jessica is a Partner at F-Prime Capital and focuses primarily on the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. Prior to joining F-Prime in 2015, Jessica was an engagement manager in McKinsey and Company’s Boston office, where she focused on pharmaceuticals and medical products and advised companies across a range of strategic, organizational, and operational topics. She began her career at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Biodefense Systems group, where she worked on developing novel techniques for the detection of biological agents. She currently serves on the board of New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA).
Jessica holds a Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University and received her BS in biology from Duke University, graduating summa cum laude.
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Adela (formerly DNAMx) is focused on the detection of cancer and other high-morbidity, high-mortality conditions through a routine blood test. The company’s genome-wide methylation analysis technology has the unique ability to distinguish the most-highly informative (methylated) regions of the genome from non-informative regions and preferentially target those informative regions for sequencing. Learn more at www.adelabio.com.
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Category
- MedTech
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Status
- Private
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Location
Toronto, Ontario
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Year Invested
2021
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Team
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Aera Therapeutics is a biotechnology company leveraging its proprietary protein nanoparticle (PNP) delivery platform to unlock the full potential of genetic medicines. Aera’s platform, based on endogenous human proteins, is being developed to address the limitations of today’s delivery technologies and to expand the reach of genetic medicines to different tissues and applications, in order to benefit more patients across more disease areas. Aera’s licensed technology also includes a therapeutic enzyme platform based on the discovery of novel, compact and programmable gene editing enzymes. Aera is headquartered in Boston and has raised $193 million to date from leading life sciences investors. To learn more, please visit www.aeratx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Private
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Location
Boston, MA
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Year Invested
2023
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Team
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Atalanta Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering new treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases by utilizing its proprietary RNA interference platform. Learn more at www.atalantatx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Private
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Location
Boston, MA
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Year Invested
2019
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Team
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Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BEAM) is pioneering the use of CRISPR base editing to develop precision genetic medicines that treat disease, one letter at a time. Learn more at www.beamtx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Public
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Location
Cambridge, MA
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Year Invested
2018
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Team
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BioPalette is a life science start up formed out of Kobe University developing base editing technology for a range of applications. Learn more at www.biopalette.co.jp.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Private
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Location
Kobe, Japan
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Year Invested
2017
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Team
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Comanche Biopharma is a maternal and fetal medicine biopharmaceutical company working to lower the risks of pregnancy and premature births worldwide. We are currently developing the world’s first treatment for preeclampsia, which affects more than 10 million women every year. Learn more at www.comanchebiopharma.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Private
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Location
Concord, MA
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Year Invested
2021
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Team
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Invetx is a pioneer in creating novel, protein-based animal health therapeutics to transform standards of care in veterinary medicine. The company leverages a best-in-class, fully integrated biotechnology platform for the discovery, development, and manufacturing of veterinary monoclonal antibodies, and is developing a diverse product pipeline addressing chronic and severe diseases in the veterinary species. In July 2024, Invetx was acquired by Dechra Pharmaceuticals Limited (Dechra), a global specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals business. Learn more at www.invetx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Acquired
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Location
Boston, MA
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Year Invested
2022
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Team
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Menlo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MNLO) is a late stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of serlopitant for the treatment of pruritus (itch) associated with dermatologic conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and prurigo nodularis.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Public
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Location
Menlo Park, CA
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Year Invested
2015
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Team
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NFlection Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies for Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), and other disorders. Learn more at https://nflection.com/.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Private
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Location
Cambridge, MA
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Year Invested
2016
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Team
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Nocion Therapeutics, a neuroinflammation and analgesic company discovering and developing novel pharmaceutical treatments for various indications including pain, cough and itch. Learn more at www.nociontx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Private
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Location
Cambridge, MA
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Year Invested
2019
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Team
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Nvelop Therapeutics was founded in 2022 to address the challenge of efficiently delivering therapeutic cargoes to target cells in vivo. Nvelop’s next-generation platforms enable highly efficient and cell-specific in vivo delivery of a wide range of cargoes to many types of target cells. The two platforms were independently developed in the labs of scientific co-founders and gene editing pioneers Dr. David Liu of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Dr. Keith Joung at Massachusetts General Hospital. With its own pipeline of therapeutics and through strategic collaborations, Nvelop aims to use these programmable, non-viral platforms to transform delivery for a broad range of genetic medicines and modalities in order to treat many previously undruggable diseases. For more information, visit www.nveloptx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Location
Cambridge, MA
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Year Invested
2022
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Team
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Prime Medicine (NASDAQ: PRME) is a biotechnology company founded to deliver on the promise of Prime Editing, a versatile gene editing technology that can truly “search and replace” to restore normal genetic function and address the fundamental causes of disease. Prime Medicine envisions a world where Prime Editing can cure, halt, and ultimately prevent genetic diseases, providing lifelong benefit to patients and shaping the future of gene editing. Learn more at www.primemedicine.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Public
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Location
Cambridge, MA
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Year Invested
2019
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Team
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Singular Genomics (NASDAQ: OMIC) is developing a new next generation sequencing platform. Learn more at www.singulargenomics.com.
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Category
- MedTech
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Status
- Public
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Location
La Jolla, CA
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Year Invested
2019
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Team
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Tempest Therapeutics (Nasdaq: TPST) is a development-stage biotechnology company advancing small molecule therapeutics that modulate anti-tumor immunity pathways. Learn more at www.tempesttx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Public
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Location
San Francisco, CA
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Year Invested
2018
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Team
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Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VERV) is a biotechnology company created with a singular focus: to protect the world from heart disease. Verve is developing therapies to safely edit the genome of adults and confer lifelong protection from coronary artery disease, the most common form of heart disease and the leading cause of death worldwide. Learn more at www.vervetx.com.
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Category
- Therapeutics
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Status
- Public
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Location
Cambridge, MA
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Year Invested
2019
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Team
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