Cambridge, Mass.-based venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering said it launched a new early-stage biotechnology company that would specialize in gene therapy.

Ring Therapeutics Inc. was founded by the healthcare-focused investor in 2017, and will now start operations with $50 million in funding commitment from Flagship Pioneering, which raised $824 million in March to support early-stage companies. Avak Kahvejian, a Flagship Pioneering partner, is Ring Therapeutics' founding CEO.

Ring Therapeutics is developing technology to overcome a range of limitations in current DNA and gene therapies, and plans to use its platform to develop more effective products for patients. The company is targeting therapeutic areas including genetic disorders, ophthalmology, oncology, metabolic disorders, hematology, central nervous system disorders and inflammatory diseases.

Flagship Pioneering operating partner Rahul Singhvi has been appointed as Ring Therapeutics' president. Until recently, Singhvi was the COO of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.'s global vaccine business unit. Prior to Takeda, he was president and CEO of Novavax Inc., a Nasdaq-listed vaccine company.