Archon Biosciences

Archon Biosciences is a biotechnology firm that emerged from stealth in October 2024 with $20 million in seed financing to develop its proprietary Antibody Cages (AbCs). Founded in 2023, the company is a spinout from the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design (IPD), leveraging technology developed in the lab of Nobel laureate Dr. David Baker, who is also a co-founder. The other co-founders are CEO James Lazarovits, CTO George Ueda, and Lance Stewart. Lazarovits holds a Ph.D. in nanotechnology engineering and was a research faculty member at the IPD, while Ueda spent over a decade at the IPD under Dr. Baker's mentorship. Their research, which formed the basis for Archon, was initially published in 2021 and received over $7 million in grant funding prior to the seed round.

The company's core focus is on a novel class of biologics called Antibody Cages, which are designed to overcome the limitations of traditional antibody therapeutics. Archon utilizes computational protein design and generative AI to create these AbCs, which are new protein structures that combine with existing antibodies. This approach allows for precise control over the geometric structure of the antibody, which in turn influences how it is distributed in the body and how it engages with cellular targets. The key innovation lies in modifying the antibody's structure without altering its amino acid sequence, viewing it as a "bolt-on solution" to enhance its properties. This method aims to create more effective and safer therapeutics by improving target engagement and minimizing off-target effects, potentially rescuing drugs that previously failed in clinical trials due to efficacy issues.

Archon's business model revolves around developing a proprietary platform that can rapidly design, manufacture, and test new AbC candidates for various diseases, with an initial focus on oncology. The technology is designed to be a modular platform, allowing for the efficient creation of different drugs for diverse applications. The company serves the biopharmaceutical market by aiming to develop its own pipeline of drug candidates while also being open to partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies. By creating a platform that interfaces with the industry-standard antibody format, Archon seeks to establish a new gold standard in biologic drug development. The company has stated its first targets are conditions without currently approved antibody treatments and is pursuing acute, not chronic, therapies.

Keywords: Antibody Cages, computational protein design, generative AI, biologics, protein therapeutics, antibody engineering, nanostructures, drug development, oncology therapeutics, Institute for Protein Design, David Baker, James Lazarovits, George Ueda, modular drug platform, therapeutic targets, immune modulation, preclinical investigation, self-assembling proteins, geometrically tunable therapeutics, AI-driven drug discovery