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This article embarks on a voyage through five imaginary alliances, each melding the unique talents of diverse companies to confront monumental global enigmas spanning biodiversity, pharmaceutical production, rare disease treatment, in-space exploration, and agriculture.
These potential partnerships encompass the collaborative might of TetraScience, Colossal Biosciences, Palantir, AWS, Axiom Space, Corteva, John Deere, SpaceX, Dewpoint Therapeutics, and BioNTech.
By tapping into the core strengths of each organization, these audacious collaborations hold the promise of sparking breakthroughs that rejuvenate ecosystems, expedite drug development, refine agricultural methodologies, and reveal untapped therapeutic targets across a spectrum of diseases – reshaping industries and enriching lives in the process.
Pandemics, Partnerships, and a Data-Led Revolution
In a world turned upside down by a global pandemic, it was the early adopters of digitization and collaboration, like Moderna and BioNTech, who emerged victorious, brandishing their tech-savvy swords to combat adversity.
By joining forces with the likes of AWS and academic research centers, these pharmaceutical trailblazers harnessed the power of digital innovation, collaboration, and advanced data management to revolutionize vaccine development and distribution. This article in Forbes’ covers the topic brilliantly.
As we now venture forth into the post-pandemic world, we must not only celebrate these triumphs but also let our imaginations run wild, daring to dream of could and should-be alliances that can reshape the future, forever transforming industries and life as we know it.
So, buckle up and join us on a journey into the realm of pipe dreams, where alchemists weave their magic to conjure a golden age of progress, filled with dazzling advancements in healthcare, ecology, and beyond.
Pipe Dreams & Partnerships
In a world that seems to be running short of miracles, it's time for a little alchemy. Some partnerships defy logic, but it's often in the illogical that we find the greatest potential for paradigm-shifting innovations. So let's take a flight of fancy and explore five remarkable alliances that, if they ever came to fruition, could conjure up a golden age of progress.
Plaid-Powered Drug Manufacturing: TetraScience, Colossal Biosciences, Form Bio, and Palantir
Imagine a world where the creation of life-saving drugs is no longer hamstrung by outdated processes and inefficiencies – where medications reach patients in need at ludicrous speed.
In this aspirational vision, TetraScience's prowess in data harmonization, Palantir's Foundry with its data-driven optimization magic, Colossal Biosciences' mastery of genetic engineering, and Form Bio's trailblazing biomanufacturing solutions come together to form a synergistic alliance that reimagines pharmaceutical production.
With a seamless melding of data from disparate laboratory instruments and formats, paired with cutting-edge production techniques and next-gen biomanufacturing processes, this remarkable collaboration could reshape the pharmaceutical landscape, accelerating the availability of vital drugs and therapies for patients across the globe.
Against the backdrop of a pharmaceutical industry where bringing a drug to market can take 12 years and cost $2.6 billion, this alliance promises to break the mold, slashing both time and costs – a testament to the transformative power of innovation and collaboration.
Condensate Crusaders: TetraScience, Dewpoint Therapeutics, and Palantir
In a world where remarkable ideas intersect, biomolecular condensates have emerged as the linchpin for a new frontier in drug discovery and development. These tiny, yet powerful droplets influence a range of biological processes, from neurodegeneration to cancer and viral infections.
Dewpoint Therapeutics, a trailblazer in the realm of condensate biotechnology, is poised to revolutionize the way we approach these challenges.
High-Throughput Screening (HTS), flow cytometry and other lab workflows are slowed down by manual transcription, transfer, and transformation of scientific data. By using TetraScience to automate those steps, the scientific experts at Dewpoint will have easy access to their research enriched with metadata in Palantir Foundry to enable AI/ML use cases that streamline the path to success, shrinking IND submission and approval timelines to become the first biotech to drug the undruggable.
The implications are astounding. Recent studies from Bayer and Dewpoint published in Nature suggest that by targeting biomolecular condensates, we may unlock the door to new treatments for Alzheimer's disease. This extraordinary partnership is a beacon of hope for patients, their families, and young people with early warning signs.
A Rare Opportunity in Disease Treatment: TetraScience, Colossal Biosciences, Form Bio, and Palantir
In the realm of rare diseases, there lies an unprecedented opportunity to bring together the best of data wizardry, gene-editing prowess, pharmaceutical innovation, and data analytics expertise – crafting personalized treatments that make a real difference.
Picture a unified platform, born from the collaboration of TetraScience, Colossal Biosciences, Form Bio, and Palantir, that consolidates vital patient data, genetic insights, and tailored treatment options for specific rare diseases – take Duchenne muscular dystrophy as an example.
With the harmonious interplay of TetraScience's data integration capabilities, Colossal's CRISPR gene-editing marvels, Form Bio's biomanufacturing know-how, and Palantir's cutting-edge data analytics, this alliance holds the potential to uncover new therapeutic targets and craft bespoke gene therapies that dramatically enhance patient outcomes.
Over 7,000 rare diseases touch the lives of more than 350 million people (source: Global Genes), this remarkable collaboration offers a beacon of hope, the prospect of healing, and the chance to make a profound impact on countless lives.
Ad Astra Alliance: TetraScience, AWS, and Axiom Space
Picture a world where the stars align, and TetraScience, AWS, and Axiom Space join forces to catapult in-space research and manufacturing to unparalleled heights.
With the fusion of TetraScience's bi-directional workflows and Sciborg mastery, AWS' Snowcone and cloud infrastructure prowess, and Axiom Space's expertise in crafting microgravity research environments, this alliance could give birth to a groundbreaking cloud-based platform. Seamlessly integrating data from a myriad of lab instruments employed in space experiments, it promises to unlock new frontiers of knowledge.
Researchers would gain real-time access to vital data, accelerating the pace of discoveries in the microgravity realm. The potential is boundless – from novel materials with extraordinary properties to innovative drug formulations – enriching life not only on our pale blue dot but throughout the cosmos.
Space Cowboys: TetraScience, Corteva, John Deere, and SpaceX
Part cosmonaut, part cowboy—join forces to usher in a new era of precision agriculture and optimized crop production.
Through the marriage of TetraScience's Scientific Data Cloud for unifying data from disparate sources, Corteva's trailblazing crop science innovations, John Deere's cutting-edge agricultural machinery, and Starlink's satellite internet, this unlikely alliance could spawn a network of smart, sustainable, and efficient farms.
By harnessing the collective power of their technologies, they could create a platform that weaves together data from a diverse array of agricultural sensors, machinery, and satellite imagery. This would empower farmers to make informed, data-driven decisions about planting, irrigation, and harvesting, resulting in amplified crop yields, streamlined resource usage, and minimized environmental impact.
These aliens and cowboys can join forces to revolutionize precision agriculture and optimize crop production.
The Potential of Pioneering Partnerships
The world is changing faster than ever with no signs of slowing down.
The alliances we explored together may seem like pipe dreams, but if recent history has taught us anything, it's that unexpected collaborations can produce groundbreaking innovations.
Let's not forget the power of science, technology, and collaboration. By fostering these extraordinary alliances, we hold the key to unlocking a brighter, more innovative future.
There isn’t any rule (that I know of) saying we have to wait until the next pandemic to collaborate for the collective good of country and community.
So, as we embark on this data-led revolution, remember that it's the dreamers and the doers, those who dare to challenge conventions, who bring about true change. Let's create a future that redefines the status quo and gifts us a golden age of progress.
Go, make a dent in the universe.
Biotech’s Still Breathing — Funding Announcements
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Danimer Scientific is a biotechnology company that makes bioplastics used in disposable container coatings, packaging, and other products, using renewable and sustainable biopolymers to create plastic products that are 100% biodegradable and compostable.
View on: LinkedIn.com
New Funding Raised: $130M, Post-IPO Debt
Round Investors: [Not Disclosed]
Growth Focus: Expands its capital structure, significantly improves its near-term liquidity position, and enables it to maintain strategic and operational flexibility as it executes its growth strategy.
Press: Business Wire, ABL Advisor
HQ: Bainbridge, GA
Industry: Plastics Manufacturing
Employee Count: 175
Zus Health operates a healthcare data platform that connects health and non-health information to provide a comprehensive understanding of any given patient and shares clinical and non-clinical data without sharing the same applications, providing a platform that health data developers will love to use.
View on: LinkedIn.com
New Funding Raised: $40M, Venture - Series Undisclosed
Round Investors: F-Prime Capital, Jazz Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Maverick Ventures
Growth Focus: Scale out its health data platform as a common layer that digital health companies can use to build their tools; launch and grow its new partnership with Elation Health.
Press: PR Newswire, Fierce Healthcare
HQ: Boston, MA
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Employee Count: 61 (15% increase in last 6 months)
Mediar Therapeutics operates a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to fibrosis treatment that targets key fibrotic mediator proteins that aid in the development of fibrosis in chronically damaged organs, enabling medical practitioners to halt and reverse critical fibrosis and associated conditions.
View on: LinkedIn.com
New Funding Raised: $85M, Series A
Round Investors: Novartis Venture Fund (lead), Sofinnova Partners (lead), Pfizer Ventures, Mission BioCapital
Growth Focus: Advance programs into clinical studies in 2024 with a lead asset on track to candidate nomination in Q2 2023.
Press: PR Newswire, BioSpace
HQ: Cambridge, MA
Industry: Biotechnology Research
Employee Count: 21
Switch Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company that integrates nucleic acid nanotechnology and RNA interference (RNAi) science, with the goal of treating a range of diseases that affect the central nervous system.
View on: LinkedIn.com
New Funding Raised: $52M, Series A
Round Investors: Insight Partners (lead), UCB Ventures (lead), Upfront Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures
Growth Focus: Advance a development candidate for its lead program for the treatment of a central nervous system disease; recruit top R&D and corporate talent to help accelerate its growth; expand its CASi platform through new pharmaceutical collaborations.
Press: Business Wire, Global Genes
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Biotechnology Research
Employee Count: 19 (36% increase in last 6 months)
Lookin’ Around?
Dream Jobs in Science & Companies Hiring:
Form Bio — Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scientist - Cell & Gene Therapies (View Job Post)
Colossal Biosciences — Scientist, Genome Engineering (View Job Post)
Axiom Space — In-Space Manufacturing Program Manager, Advanced Materials (View Job Post)
Dewpoint Therapeutics — Principal Scientist - Chemical Biology (View Job Post)
TetraScience — Principal Architect - Professional Services (View Job Post)
Share your company’s job openings with our community of 1600+ life science managers, directors, VPs, and executives by linking your career page in the comments section. We’ll feature your posting in next week’s letter.1
Any, and all views, opinions, beliefs, and/or written statements are expressly my own. Where’s My Flying Car? (WMFC) is not affiliated with any employer or company, and does not accept payments for community involvement. WMFC’s mission is to serve current, and soon-to-be, leaders at the intersection of life sciences and technology… the folks behind the scenes building the future. WMFC serves as a platform to elevate conversations about scientific data in life sciences and we’ll shine a spotlight on Sciborgs who are maniacally committed to their craft, so we can learn from their wins… and sometimes their losses. No red tape, no politics, no payments to publish… Science for the people. Please comment or DM Kyle Garvin, if you’d like to choose topics we cover in future letters — or even better, request a week to write a guest post. Thanks for reading and subscribing. A toast to you, your loved ones, and your future filled with flying cars.