The ImmunoControl™ Company
Engineered protein therapeutics - stealth to the immune system/better half-life
We modify active biologic drugs, so they become stealth to the immune system or enhance silent, secondary epitopes with our evolved “growing from” polymerization technology.
Our Company
BHS Biotechnology is leveraging >1,000 publications, 170 PhDs, and 30+ years of research at Carnegie Mellon University (Dr. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski) that revolutionized controlled polymerization using ATRP technology.
Deploying > $40M over the past six years, we have optimized and scaled this technology to make it readily applicable to commercial biologic drug development. We have expanded our chemical toolbox with precision-controlled polymerization, versatile synthetic methodologies, and unique polymer architectures to dramatically improve the therapeutic window of selected drugs. We are also circumventing common problems encountered in drug delivery and bioconjugation, particularly the issues of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with antigenicity, immunogenicity, homogeneity, and stability.
We are in the preclinical stage of drug development, preparing for two INDs. We are actively building an internal pipeline of proprietary biologic drugs that leverages our unique, differentiated, and patented technology.
We are looking to partner with a few selected companies in the following spaces: therapeutic enzymes, mini-proteins (natural and de novo designed), and nucleic acids.
Antigenicity, immunogenicity, stability, PK, solubility, delivery, manufacturing.
It started with a question
BioHybrid Solutions™ was created in 2016 to solve a problem in human wellness: how can we improve protein therapeutics with chemical building blocks that evade the immune system and remain functional in the human body? Proteins, the workhorses of living systems, are the foundation of advances in pharmaceuticals. But these extraordinary biomacromolecules are highly sensitive to their environment: stomach acid and the body’s natural temperature for example. This effort has gone through phases of discovery during which proteins and enzymes have been immobilized on solid supports, embedded in polymers, reacted with polymers, and protein engineered by random or site-directed mutagenesis.
Pioneers in Protein Engineering
Alan Russell and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) colleague Krzysztof Matyjaszewski have pioneered this field while researching unique ways to develop very dense polymer shields for proteins using controlled chemistry. The past several years have been spent perfecting this chemistry, aided by major investments. In 2015, CMU launched the Center for Polymer-Based Protein Engineering, which Drs. Russell and Matyjaszewski co-direct. In the spring of 2016, they spun out Biohybrid Solutions™ with the goal of deploying their technology to enable better therapeutics.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN: THE BHS APPROACH
The Biohybrid team has mastered and fine tuned how to covalently display multiple small molecule initiators onto a protein and then grow polymers from those sites. Using this ‘growing from’ approach, they have engineered protein-polymer bioconjugates with inert or stimuli-responsive polymers that respond to external triggers, such as temperature and pH, all while maintaining biologic activity. Leveraging the “growing from” technology, the tool box of initiators, monomers and custom polymer architectures, BHS has consistently delivered high density, reproducibility, homogeneity, and high yield of the resulting bioconjugates. The technology allows for the specific targeting of protein domains, enabling its ImmunoControl™ platform. BHS powerful applications are game changers for several wanted biotherapeutics and drug discovery tools.
Our Team
Our award-winning team of co-founders includes one of the most cited chemists in modern history, who was recently elected to the National Academy of Science, as well as the founder of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Polymer-Based Protein Engineering. By combining the power of computational science, synthetic chemistry and biology, the Biohybrid team is rapidly growing. Their new set of tools that overcome the limitations of biomacromolecular systems are being sought out by federal agencies and pharmaceutical companies. A recent 38-million-dollar partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense is helping to propel the breadth and depth of NanoArmored™ therapeutic applications.
executive Team
Jean Pineault
President & CEO
Jean brings a wealth of leadership experience and passion to BHS, specializing in growing and professionalizing privately held businesses in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and clinical diagnostics markets and positioning them for rapid and successful growth.
Laura Benjamin, Ph.D
Executive Board Chair
Laura is the Founder and CEO of OncXerna Therapeutics, with prior leadership roles at Eli Lilly and Harvard Medical School. She is an experienced cancer and vascular biology researcher who transitioned from academia to industry with a passion for improving patients’ lives through innovative drug discovery and development.
Antonina Simakova, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, Research
Antonina Simakova completed her PhD and post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Matyjaszewski at CMU. Her PhD work focused on the development of novel aqueous ATRP processes for biomedical applications. Previously, she spent two years working in an influenza virus laboratory, studying influenza strain distribution and investigating polyaniline as adsorbent for viruses. Dr. Simakova directs R&D for BHS, overseeing all laboratory operations.
Board Members
Laura Benjamin, Ph.D
Executive Board Chair
Laura is the Founder and CEO of OncXerna Therapeutics, with prior leadership roles at Eli Lilly and Harvard Medical School. She is an experienced cancer and vascular biology researcher who transitioned from academia to industry with a passion for improving patients’ lives through innovative drug discovery and development.
Dave Colaizzi
Vice-Chair of the Board
A seasoned Founder, CEO, and Board Director adept at bridging technology, biology, and business for impactful convergence. Dave Colaizzi is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at SignatureDx, a biotechnology company created with a vision of identifying biomarkers for early-stage disease detection so that treatment can help improve patient outcomes.
Mark Murcko, Ph.D.
Board Director
Mark Murcko has directly contributed to nine marketed drugs and several additional molecules currently in mid- to late-stage clinical trials. He is currently a board member and interim chief scientific officer at Dewpoint Therapeutics. In addition, Mark is a senior lecturer in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, and has served on numerous scientific advisory boards and corporate boards of directors for a diverse range of organizations.
Barbara Fox, Ph.D.
Board Director
Barbara is the past CEO of Rheos Medicines and Tilos Therapeutics and is a seasoned biotechnology executive with extensive leadership expertise in starting and building clinical-stage biotech companies. Her primary focus has been advancing biologics and small molecules from discovery into the clinic. She is an immunologist by training, has a comprehensive understanding of all key aspects of running a successful biotech company, and has successfully raised capital from a wide range of sources.
Krzysztof (Kris) Matyjaszewski, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Krzysztof (Kris) Matyjaszewski, Ph.D., professor in the department of chemistry at the Mellon College of Science, Carnegie Mellon University, is highly regarded internationally recognized polymer chemist who has yielded significant innovations in polymer chemistry. He is perhaps best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the way macromolecules are made.
Jean Pineault
President & CEO
Jean brings a wealth of leadership experience and passion to BHS, specializing in growing and professionalizing privately held businesses in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and clinical diagnostics markets and positioning them for rapid and successful growth.
Scientific Advisory Board
Alan Russell, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Alan Russell (Ph.D., Imperial College) is the Highmark Distinguished Career Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering & the Director of the Disruptive health Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Russell is Chairman of the Board of Directors of YourScript, Inc. and has broad experience at the interface of science, healthcare and commercialization. Dr. Russell previously held the postion of CEO of BioHybdrid Solutions™.
Krzysztof (Kris) Matyjaszewski, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Krzysztof (Kris) Matyjaszewski, Ph.D., professor in the department of chemistry at the Mellon College of Science, Carnegie Mellon University, is highly regarded internationally recognized polymer chemist who has yielded significant innovations in polymer chemistry. He is perhaps best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the way macromolecules are made.
Anthony Manning, Ph.D.
Acting Chief Scientific Officer and Member of the Scientic Advisory Board
Directly contributed to the approval of two drugs for the treatment of autoimmune disease and has led teams in the discovery and clinical development of multiple therapeutics. Tony was Chief Scientific Officer at Momenta Pharmaceuticals where he built a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of rare autoantibody-driven diseases. Nipocalimab received Orphan Drug and Fast track designations from the FDA. Janssen Pharmaceuticals acquired Momenta in 2020 for $6.5B.
Career Opportunities
Interested in working for us?
Send inquires for employment to: info@biohybridsolutions.com