Axial: https://linktr.ee/axialxyz
Axial partners with great founders and inventors. We invest in early-stage life sciences companies such as Appia Bio, Seranova Bio, Delix Therapeutics, Simcha Therapeutics, among others often when they are no more than an idea. We are fanatical about helping the rare inventor who is compelled to build their own enduring business. If you or someone you know has a great idea or company in life sciences, Axial would be excited to get to know you and possibly invest in your vision and company . We are excited to be in business with you - email us at info@axialvc.com
Absci is building a one-stop shop for biologics. Selling both the cell line and drug candidate. Founded in 2011 by Sean McClain out of a basement lab in Portland, the company is built on SoluPro (commercial in 2018) strains that use E. coli to replace CHO cells.
SoluPro is an engineered E. coli relying on dual inducible promoters & a semi-oxidizing cytoplasm to increase production rates versus secretion-based systems and increase yield by creating an environment to keep proteins folded/soluble. Compared to mammalian systems, SoluPro massively reduces COGs and increases the number of iterations/speed while producing the full spectrum of therapeutic proteins. CHO cells still dominate for some biologics due to their need for glycosylation. This is why AbSci focuses mainly on IgG4s within the mAb class. And cell free technologies will become important as an alternative here over time.
On top of this AbSci can incorporate nsAAs (i.e. Bionic proteins) and use their ACE/HiPrBind assays to test billions of drug sequences & cell lines for features like affinity and titers. Then the company built its ML capabilities through M&A and hiring a talented engineer from Facebook. Absci has the platform to generate internal data (paid by their partners) to train on plus world-class AI talent to build models for things like function & manufacturability from sequence. A rare combination in biotech.
Working with companies like Merck & Astellas, Absci develops new cell lines to unlock next-generation biologics like bispecifics and various non-canonical scaffolds. Their cell line BD work started in 2018 while their drug discovery work launched in 2020. Due to this history, Absci often starts a partnership with cell line development then expands into things like target ID, lead optimization, and more.
The company is also headquartered in Vancouver, WA. A really great place for tax optimization. No income taxes in Washington. And you can drive across the bridge to Oregon where there are no sales taxes.
There is a similar opportunity to do what Absci has done for biologics for gene therapies & possibly in cell therapies where the process is the product. AskBio had the opportunity in AAVs but sold to Bayer. The premise is to use technology to collapse various steps of drug development into a single (or a few) steps:
1. Focus on next-generation products that can’t be produced in conventional systems. For AAVs, use a cell line design & produce new capsids.
2. Replace mammalian systems with microbial ones - making microbes more mammalian like
3. Generate billions of data points on production and other features to easily version a manufacturing chassis
Absci is hiring here
https://lnkd.in/gB-Ta63v