AbSci Receives Strategic Investment From Merck Global Health Innovation Fund

AbSci, a Vancouver, Wash.-based synthetic biology company that unifies biologic drug discovery and development processes, received a strategic equity investment from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (Merck GHI).

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

This partnership aligns with AbSci’s research and development activities. Key areas of focus are integration and training of the Denovium Engine deep learning artificial intelligence platform AbSci acquired in January 2021, and ongoing expansion of core discovery capabilities including non-standard amino acid technologies.

Led by founder and CEO Sean McClain, AbSci is a synthetic biology company that translates ideas into drugs with a platform technology that reinvents the biopharmaceutical drug discovery process. Its patented SoluPro® E. coli expression system and Protein Printing™ platform, informed by deep learning Denovium Engine™, enable simultaneous creation of novel biotherapeutic drugs and the cell lines to manufacture them in a single efficient process. In one workflow, the company selects cell lines producing drug candidates with optimal target potency and affinity as well as high-titer expression. The company specializes in next-generation biologics built on complex protein scaffolds, which have proven challenging for others to produce.

FinSMEs

24/02/2021