The Abiologics platform leverages cutting-edge
generative AI and high throughput chemical protein synthesis to
create Synteins™, a new class of programmable medicines
that aims to redefine what therapeutics can achieve for
patients
The company emerges after 3 years of platform
development and an initial commitment of $50
million from Flagship Pioneering
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 23,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Pioneering, the
bioplatform innovation company, today unveiled Abiologics, a
company reimagining biologics with the creation of a new class of
supranatural and programmable medicines, called
Synteins™. Synteins are computationally-generated and
synthesized with novel building blocks, endowing them with
extraordinary properties to bring life-changing treatments to
patients across a wide range of diseases. Flagship has initially
committed $50 million to advance the
company's platform and develop a diverse pipeline of medicines,
with an initial focus on oncology and immunology
indications.
"Biologics have transformed medicine in the past forty years,
but only a fraction of their potential has been realized because
we've been limited by the boundaries of nature," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of
Flagship Pioneering and Co-Founder and Chairman of the Strategic
Oversight Board of Abiologics. "With the convergence of
advancements in generative artificial intelligence, automated
polymer synthesis and chemical functionalization coupled
with a vision to develop more powerful medicines with
unprecedented diversity, we asked, what if we could design
biologics entirely from new building blocks that could overcome the
most critical limitations of today's medicines?"
The Abiologics platform is a fully integrated digital and
automated wet-lab infrastructure to create supranatural biologics
with powerful, desirable pharmacological properties. The platform
leverages state-of-the-art generative artificial intelligence (AI)
to computationally-design Synteins de novo using a broad set
of artificial building blocks, far beyond the 20 naturally
occurring amino acids that form the basis of today's biologic
medicines. These include biologics built with D-amino acids,
chemically identical mirror images of standard amino acids. Once
designed, Abiologics chemically synthesizes its digitally-optimized
Synteins with pioneering new technologies. As a result, Synteins
can be programmed to interact with virtually any therapeutic target
while evading the body's natural defenses. By surpassing the
limitations of traditional biologics discovery tools, Abiologics is
the first to discover, prototype and scale-up polymers composed
solely of artificial building blocks, and to date has successfully
generated Synteins made entirely of D-amino acids that bind a
diversity of therapeutically relevant targets while remaining
ultrastable.
"For the first time, we are able to imagine and generate
chemically synthesized biologics at scale and with increasing
programmability, offering a new class of medicines with
transformative potential," said Avak
Kahvejian, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Abiologics and
General Partner at Flagship Pioneering. "Creating protein biologics
with artificial building blocks rather than naturally occurring
amino acids allows Synteins to go unrecognized by the immune
system, offering significant advantages compared to today's
biologics such as less frequent dosing, oral delivery and the
ability to reach parts of the body that were previously impossible
to access and treat. With Synteins, Abiologics is poised to bring
boundary-breaking medicines to patients across a range of
diseases."
In addition to Afeyan and Kahvejian, Abiologics' founding team
includes Mike Hamill, Ph.D., Chief
Innovation Officer of Abiologics and Senior Principal at Flagship
Pioneering, Kala Subramanian, Ph.D.,
Founding President of Abiologics and Operating Partner at Flagship
Pioneering, Jaclyn Dunphy, Ph.D., Senior Director of Strategy
and Research Operations at Abiologics, and Alicia Kaestli, Ph.D.,
Senior Associate at Flagship Pioneering. Bradley Pentelute, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry
at MIT, is an Academic Co-Founder of
Abiologics.
About Abiologics
Abiologics is pioneering a new class
of supranatural and programmable biologics, called
Synteins™. The Abiologics platform leverages
cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence and high-throughput
chemical protein synthesis to create Synteins with powerful,
desirable pharmacological properties, redefining what therapeutics
can achieve for patients across a range of disease areas.
Abiologics was founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2021. For more
information, visit us at www.abiologics.com and follow us on
LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
About Flagship Pioneering
Flagship Pioneering invents
and builds bioplatform companies, each with the potential for
multiple products that transform human health or sustainability.
Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more
than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $75 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship
has deployed over $3.8 billion in
capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies
alongside more than $27 billion of
follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship
ecosystem comprises 40 companies, including Foghorn
Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Moderna (NASDAQ:
MRNA), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Generate
Biomedicines, Inari, Indigo Agriculture, and Tessera
Therapeutics.
Media Contact:
press@flagshippioneering.com
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SOURCE Flagship Pioneering