OUR HISTORY
Manhattan BioSolutions, Inc. was founded in 2018 by Dr. Borys Shor, an entrepreneur and biopharma veteran based in New York City, and Professor Yossef Av-Gay at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, with a core mission to unlock the natural ability of the human innate immune system to defend the body against the invading pathogens or cancer. The initial focus of Manhattan Bio was the development of synthetic live medicines specifically designed to target the unique mutations found in cancer cells, provoking a potent and tailored immune response against the tumors. Manhattan Bio has achieved significant preclinical proof of concept data, providing compelling evidence of the efficacy and potential of this innovative approach. As the company evolved, it explored the potential of other remarkable protective mechanisms governing immune defense and homeostasis within the body, with the aim of developing novel therapeutics.
In 2018, our startup has won the prestigious Johnson & Johnson Innovation QuickFire Challenge Competition and the accompanying award, granting us free laboratory and office space at the newly opened JLabs@NYC incubator in downtown Manhattan. Since 2020, our R&D laboratory was conveniently located near the NYU campus in Manhattan, designed to support in-house pre-clinical discovery of antibodies and functional cellular assays. At the end of 2023, Manhattan Bio was honored to receive a second QuickFire “Science in the City” award sponsored by J&J Innovation, recognizing our pioneering work in biologics discovery. This award provides new state-of-the-art facilities at the JNJ JLabs, featuring cutting-edge equipment and collaborative workspaces. We will be moving to these new labs in early 2024 to accelerate translation of our programs. We also partner with Gilman Biosciences, headed by Dr. Babic, to externalize preclinical assay development, leveraging his expertise and track record in translational drug discovery.
Establishing a track record of success, Manhattan Bio has been awarded grants and awards from various prestigious organizations, including the New Jersey CSIT, the University at Buffalo Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, and the New York State Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University, further bolstering our innovative research and development efforts.
OUR SCIENCE
At Manhattan Bio, we are relentlessly learning how to attack fundamental vulnerabilities of cancer cells with natural defense tools employed by the human body to combat bacterial or viral infections: RNase mini-proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Originating from ancient evolutionary mechanisms supporting body defenses and tissue homeostasis, RNase mini-proteins and antibodies can naturally penetrate mammalian cells; MABS platforms retool these primeval abilities against malignancies.
Our science is built on pioneering discoveries of Dr. Ronald T. Raines, whose groundbreaking work has unlocked fundamental insights into how mini-proteins like RNases penetrate human cancer cells to destroy RNA in tumors. Recently honored with the Murray Goodman Memorial Prize and the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Khorana Prize, Professor Raines has uncovered unappreciated forces that stabilize the three-dimensional structures of all proteins, and developed processes to synthesize proteins, catalyze their folding, and facilitate their entry into human cells.
The company is also leveraging monoclonal antibody-based formats to create unique mix-and-match biologics capable of distributing selected nuclease- or chemical payloads to disease sites within the human body. We are pioneering next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to overcome limitations in ADC toxicity and cancer resistance through innovations in linker chemistry and payload selection. Today, empowered by advances across chemistry, protein engineering, and cancer biology, we are unlocking the full potential promised by ADCs. Our ADC program builds on the groundbreaking work of our esteemed scientists Dr. Nathan Tumey and Dr. Dhaval Shah, world leading experts in medicinal chemistry, bioconjugation, linker-payload optimization and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) modeling and simulation
With a strong foundation in the in the discoveries of our founders and collaborators, we are at the forefront of engineering custom-designed biologics with broad applications across the age-related diseases
PARTNERSHIPS
Manhattan BioSolutions, Inc. has built its foundation through collaborations with academic researchers, leading medical centers, and strategic partners, with a specific focus on advancing new classes of RNA-targeting biologic agents in areas of major unmet medical need. Manhattan Bio’ research efforts are augmented by scientific partnerships with the the National Cancer Institute (NCI), The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The University of British Columbia, Stony Brook University, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo University, EVQLV and the INSERM. Through these collaborations, we aim to further explore and enhance the potential of targeted therapies to address orphan diseases and improve patient outcomes.
