
A history major became a cardiologist, a geneticist, and then a first-time founder. His wager was simple to say and difficult to build: turn lessons from naturally protective genes into medicines designed to work once.
Verve Therapeutics spent seven years turning a genetic observation into a one-infusion cholesterol treatment. Its first delivery system stumbled; the replacement helped sell the company to Lilly and may redraw the boundary between a drug and a permanent decision.