Biologically Inspired Engineering, synbio, synthetic biology, crispr
Simons Chase 
Strand Therapeutics, a private company based in Massachusetts, is building a platform based on technology developed by biological engineers at MIT including scientific co-founders, Professor Ron Weiss, Ph.D., a pioneer of the field of synthetic biology, and Professor Darrell J. Irvine, Ph.D., a leading researcher of materials for immune-engineering. The co-founders sought to apply synthetic … Read more
There’s more to a tree than you may have thought. Consider the characterizations from a scientist, a philosopher and a poet. Professor Birgitta Whaley pursues novel quantum computing devices by using advanced probing methods (ie. ultrafast spectroscopy) to resolve the underlying mystery behind a biological molecule’s capacity to concurrently inhabit multiple places, times or energy … Read more
The typical physician’s office visit is the closest most Americans will come to experiencing the conditions that characterized the waste and futility of the Soviet Union. Olive AI, a private company based in Columbus, Ohio, intends to fix the problem of massive inefficiency in the U.S. healthcare industry by addressing healthcare’s most burdensome issues — … Read more
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a type of “blank-check” company that raises capital through initial public offerings (IPOs) with the intention to use the proceeds to acquire other companies at a later time. Unlike traditional IPOs, SPACs do not have commercial operations at the time of the IPO, explaining why they are referred … Read more
Decipher Biosciences, a commercial-stage precision urology oncology company, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. Decipher’s prostate cancer genomic testing products surface information about the underlying biology of a patient’s tumor. The company applies machine learning algorithms to help physicians improve therapy selection … Read more
Cullinan Oncology, LLC, a Cambridge, MA-based company, plans to raise about $150 million by offering 8.3 million shares at a price range of $17 to $19. At the midpoint of this range, Cullinan’s market value would be $750 million, fully diluted. The company is focused on developing a diversified pipeline of targeted oncology and immuno-oncology … Read more
Cell Squeeze® is a commercial technology designed to manipulate individual cells (ie. a patient’s own cells) through mild perturbation that leaves the cells viable after mechanoporation – or the insertion of a cargo directly into a cell’s cytosol. SQZ Biotech is the sole developer of this technology. One early application consists of a microchip that … Read more
A look inside a leading venture capital firm’s portfolio is like a lens for understanding the current state of the future of healthcare. Illumina Ventures’ is an independently-managed, healthcare-focused venture firm in a strategic partnership with Illumina, Inc. The portfolio illustrates as much about business models as it does about the science behind synthetic biology. … Read more
Chinese companies have capitalized on the U.S.’s open capital markets for decades. As the U.S.-China relationship frays, examining Chinese integration in the healthcare and biotech sectors must involve U.S. national security. This table includes Chinese companies listed on the NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, and NYSE American, the three largest U.S. exchanges. As of October … Read more
SQZ Biotech IPO’d in November with a $350 million+/- market cap on the basis of a new technology called Cell Squeeze®. What we can observe about this company in the present is limited to a very short history and is mostly anecdotal and risky. The company and the science is a good example of how … Read more