안녕하세요 보스턴 임박사입니다.
바이오텍에 대한 글을 한동안 쉬고 있었는데요 그만큼 제가 글을 쓰고 싶은 회사가 많이 보이지 않아서 그런 것 같기도 하고 한달간 안식년 휴가의 여파로 좀 쉰 면도 있고 그런 것 같습니다.
그래서 차일피일 미루던 중에 오늘 제 눈에 탁 들어온 회사가 하나 있어서 이 회사에 대해서 글을 좀 쓰려고 합니다. 회사의 이름은 “Prolific Machines“입니다. Prolific Machines를 발굴한 사람은 IndieBio의 Arvind Gupta인데요 시리즈 A를 발표한 날에 블로그에 쓴 글이 있습니다.
공동창업자 중 한명인 Deniz Kent 박사는 본래 Stem cell biology를 연구하는 터어키인입니다. 그는 시리아 난민 위기를 목도하면서 기후 변화에 따른 식량 위기의 미래를 염려하고 Stem cell biology를 이용해서 식량문제를 해결할 수 있지 않을까 생각하게 되었습니다. 그가 생각한 방법은 Growth factors인 recombinant proteins를 사용하지 않고 대신 Optogenetics를 이용해서 Biomanufacturing을 하는것이었습니다. 이것을 현실화 하기 위해 3년간 물리학자인 Max Huisman 박사와 Machine Learning Engineer인 Declan Jones를 만나서 다니던 직장을 그만두고 자신과 함께 Biomanufacturing을 혁신하자고 종용했습니다.
Dr. Deniz Kent, Co-founder and CEO of Prolific Machines, started the company after witnessing the Syrian refugee crisis in his hometown of Antioch, Turkey. He realized that what he experienced would be nothing compared to the impending global refugee crises caused by climate change. He knew his expertise in stem cell biology could be used to create a sustainable food system, but lacked confidence in the ability of existing technologies to compete with factory farming on cost. He conceived of a new way to grow and control cells without the need for any recombinant proteins, the most expensive ingredients in cell production. He spent three years searching for the perfect co-founders while the idea marinated in his mind. He eventually found a brilliant physicist Dr. Max Huisman, and an exceptional machine learning engineer Declan Jones. Deniz convinced them to quit their jobs, and together they assembled an all-star team to embark upon a journey to revolutionize biomanufacturing.
2020년말에 IndieBio의 SOSV로 부터 $3.1 Million의 Seed money를 받고 아이디어를 실현하는 노력을 했습니다.
The Seed round was led by Arvind Gupta at Mayfield, the first investor in cultured meat. The Series A was led by Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Prolific’s first check was written in late 2020, when SOSV’s IndieBio led their Pre-Seed round.
이 회사를 발굴한 Arvind Gupta는 자신의 블로그에 이 회사를 발견하고 성장시킨 얘기를 들려주고 있습니다.
Five Insights From Investing in Prolific Machines – Mayfield blog by Arvind Gupta 9/14/2022
Prolific Machines는 세포 배양에서 가장 고가인 Growth factors를 사용하지 않는 새로운 방법으로 고기를 생산하거나 생물학적 약물을 생산하는 기술을 개발하고자 합니다.
The heart of Prolific Machines’ approach to reinventing the assembly line for food is rooted in identifying the most expensive drivers of cell culture. Cost analysis shows that by weight, growth factors are by far the most expensive part of growing food – or anything really – in culture. So Deniz and his team had devised a novel way to eliminate the need for these growth factors in mammalian cell culture.
Meat production and biologic drug production would become the same thing, with different programs for the cells – the same inputs with different outputs. Biology programmed to produce what we need. Meat grown in culture at costs below factory farmed cows. Therapeutics like antibodies and cell therapies could become drastically cheaper, enabling life saving drugs to become affordable around the world. Human breast milk could be made in culture, eliminating baby formula shortages and replacing it with the real thing. Industry after industry, sector after sector could become supercharged with lower price, sustainable ingredients.
Arvind Gupta는 매주 Prolific Machines 창업팀과 만나면서 이 회사의 성장을 위해 필요한 IP 전략을 수립하고 Chief of staff 및 최상의 엔지니어들을 고용했고 현재 20명으로 성장시켰습니다.
With Prolific Machines, I work with the team weekly to help block and tackle the minutia (who is the best IP strategy team?, etc), while helping Deniz to make the big strategic decisions relative to the runway. We hired a phenomenal chief of staff to offload critical work from Deniz. We brought on the best engineers in their field.
Seed round 후 몇개월 후에 신기술의 가능성을 확인하고 Arvind는 Bill Gates가 세운 Breakthrough Energy Ventures의 VC 파트너인 Cooper Rinzler에게 연락을 했습니다. Cooper와 Arvind는 Deniz를 멘토링했고 2021년에 Series A term sheet을 완성했습니다.
Our weekly board meetings flew by and the team made fast progress. We kept things very quiet. After a few months, when the first signs that their basic technology could potentially work were replicated, we decided to step on the gas. We needed a large Series A with a great investor who could help our mission. I knew who to call. Cooper Rinzler, a partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, would come by IndieBio and we would imagine solving climate change with lasers and more, pushing the boundaries of what was possible…Now at Mayfield, we had the chance. I know Cooper and Breakthrough Energy Ventures have a tight scientific diligence process. They don’t fund vaporware, nor companies with no chance to move the needle. If it can’t truly dent climate change, they pass… As we worked in direct mentoring sessions, Deniz absorbed everything, from how to handle a room full of investors to confidentiality and all the soft parts of building trust. The team worked long hours to create an 80 page diligence document. Humbird’s famous whitepaper (a paper that details the scalability problems with cell culture) was invoked and many assumptions tested. Countless hours of meetings and papers written. After a month or two, while Cooper was on a long-planned vacation in Italy, Prolific Machines signed the Series A term sheet. That was now a year ago.
Cooper가 Due diligence를 하면서 참고한 자료는 아래의 논문입니다.
Series A를 하면서 CEO인 Denis는 25,000 SF의 본사를 짓고 인력을 뽑아서 생선, 가축 및 소고기 등에 대한 프로그램을 개발한다고 밝혔습니다.
Deniz explains the next steps. “We are building a 25,000 square foot HQ in Emeryville and ramping up hiring to expand our assembly line programs, including fish, poultry, and beef. If you are talented and looking to make a historic change, come and talk to us.”
그리고 2년 후 Prolific은 $55 Million Series B를 발표하면서 Prolific이 새로운 Photobiology를 이용한 Biomanufacturing component를 만들었다고 밝혔습니다. 그리고 식품회사 및 제약회사 등과 상용화에 이용할 수 있는 계약을 진행 중이라고 말했습니다.
The company is offering genetic tools, essentially strands of DNA that, with light, create things like eliminating growth factors or turning one type of cell into another type of cell. It also offers cell lines, one bovine cell chassis for food applications, and one CHO cell chassis for pharmaceutical applications. Then there is hardware that puts light into the bioreactors and measures how that light interacts with the cell. Finally there is a software component with an algorithm that takes the spectral data and determines the best light pattern to apply.
Kent intends to use the new funding on commercialization and customer acquisition. “We’re now transitioning from having proved that this is working to giving this to people,” he said. “We started engaging with some commercial partners, but we are not going to announce that quite yet.”
그리고 오늘 Bill Gates Foundation으로 부터 $2 Million의 연구비를 받아 저개발국을 위한 감염병 치료용 단일항체를 생산하려고 한다고 발표를 했습니다.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is giving the Emeryville, CA-based company a $2 million grant to figure out how to make monoclonal antibodies for infectious disease affordable for low- and middle-income countries, the startup told Endpoints News exclusively.
지난 4년간 회사의 기술 플랫폼과 생산 기술을 상용화 시킨 Prolific Machines의 상용화 노력이 결실을 맺을지 귀추가 주목됩니다.
BOSTON DR LIM 