Vivek Ramaswamy, Kriya Therapeutics, and the Billion-Dollar Biotech Black Box

By Brian Allen

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This article is part of AllenAnalysis’s ongoing examination of how capital, politics, and regulatory opacity intersect in American biotech and venture finance.

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Before politics, before presidential campaigns, before cable-news mythology, there was a business model.

And that model deserves scrutiny.

Public records show that the residence associated with Vivek Ramaswamy is held through GMDH Properties LLC, an entity listing an address tied to a Cincinnati property owned by his mother, Geetha Ramaswamy, according to Ohio property and corporate filings.^1 On its own, that structure is not illegal, nor unusual among high-net-worth individuals.

(The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans supported Vivek at Yale Law School. He graduated in 2013)

A Web of Proximity

Public records indicate that Shankar Ramaswamy, Vivek Ramaswamy’s brother, has also used the same address for correspondence at various points. Shankar Ramaswamy is the founder and CEO of Kriya Therapeutics, a gene therapy company launched in 2019, the same year Axovant Sciences, a Roivant subsidiary tied to Vivek Ramaswamy’s earlier Alzheimer’s drug venture, collapsed after repeated clinical failures.^2

That timing matters.

Kriya Therapeutics has since raised more than $1.2 billion in venture funding despite having no FDA-approved therapies and limited late-stage clinical data, according to a 2025 analysis by Labiotech.eu.^3

The question is not whether early-stage biotech can raise capital, it routinely does.

The question is why this scale of capital accumulation persisted in a sector experiencing a historic investor retreat.

Venture Capital Without Clinical Resolution

Between 2021 and 2024, investment in gene therapy collapsed by more than 80 percent industry-wide, as major pharmaceutical firms exited the space and multiple high-profile gene therapy companies shuttered or went private at massive losses.^4

During that same period, Kriya Therapeutics continued raising nine-figure rounds, including a $313.3 million Series D disclosed via SEC filings in August 2025.^5

As Labiotech notes, several early pipeline candidates originally promoted by Kriya have since disappeared from public development disclosures, while spending plans tied to recent funding rounds remain largely undisclosed.[^3]

That discrepancy has drawn quiet attention in biotech circles, but little public explanation.

Political Capital Enters the Picture

Disclosure filings reveal that J.D. Vance, now Vice President of the United States, invested between $50,000 and $100,000 in Kriya Therapeutics while serving as a U.S. Senator.^6

Again, political figures investing in startups is not inherently improper.

But the combination of:

• Massive capital inflows

• Family-linked leadership structures

• Limited clinical transparency

• Political investors with regulatory influence

creates an accountability vacuum, not a smoking gun and that distinction matters.

The Legal Infrastructure

Adding another layer is Nikita Ramaswamy, Shankar Ramaswamy’s spouse, a corporate attorney at Cooley LLP, a global law firm known for representing venture-backed biotech firms.

According to Cooley’s own biography, Nikita Ramaswamy advises high-growth emerging companies and venture capital investors on complex transactions, including cross-border capital flows.^7

There is no evidence of wrongdoing here. But in high-risk sectors like biotech, where valuation often precedes viability, the overlap between legal counsel, capital formation, and family leadership warrants transparency, not silence.

Why This Pattern Matters

The story here is not crime.

It is structure.

It is about how:

• Billion-dollar valuations are sustained without commensurate clinical results

• Political figures enter speculative biotech investments

• Disclosure norms fail the public

• Risk is socialized while insiders exit safely

Teachers’ pension funds and public retirement systems were among those exposed to Roivant-linked losses following Axovant’s collapse, according to reporting by The New York Times.^8

That history contextualizes, but does not prejudge, what followed.

What Remains Unanswered

Regulators have not accused Kriya Therapeutics of wrongdoing.

No criminal findings exist against the individuals named here.

But unanswered questions remain:

Why has Kriya been insulated from sector-wide capital retreat?

Why have pipeline disclosures narrowed as funding expanded?

What safeguards exist when political power intersects with speculative biotech finance?

These are questions for sunlight, not insinuation.

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AllenAnalysis is an independent investigative newsroom focused on tracing power, documenting accountability gaps, and publishing records the public is rarely shown.

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Footnotes

[^1]: Ohio Secretary of State business filings; Hamilton County property records.

[^2]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings; Axovant press releases (2018–2019).

[^3]: Roohi Mariam Peter, “Kriya Therapeutics has raised over $1.2 billion, but for what?” Labiotech.eu (Sept. 2025).

[^4]: Reuters, “Gene therapy investment collapses as pharma pulls back,” 2024.

[^5]: SEC Form D filings, Kriya Therapeutics, August 2025.

[^6]: U.S. Senate financial disclosure reports; Biopharma Drive, 2023.

[^7]: Cooley LLP attorney biography, Nikita Ramaswamy.

[^8]: The New York Times, “How Vivek Ramaswamy Made the Fortune Fueling His Presidential Run,” 2023.