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 through antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Our innovative platforms enable precise targeting and delivery of therapeutic payloads to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissues. Our science combines cutting-edge antibody engineering with breakthrough advances in linker chemistry and payload design. We are pioneering next-generation ADCs to overcome critical limitations in current approaches – particularly toxicity and cancer resistance – through innovations in linker chemistry and strategic payload selection. The company leverages sophisticated antibody-based formats to create unique mix-and-match biologics capable of distributing selected protein- or chemical payloads to disease sites within the human body.
Our ADC program builds on the groundbreaking work of our esteemed scientists Dr. Nathan Tumey and Dr. Dhaval Shah, consecutive recipients of the World ADC Awards’ Outstanding Academic Investigator Award (2023 and 2022, respectively). As world-leading experts in medicinal chemistry, bioconjugation, linker-payload optimization and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) modeling and simulation, their unparalleled expertise drives the advancement of our ADC pipeline. Our scientific foundation is strengthened by the insights Dr. Ronald T. Raines, a renowned protein chemist and advisor whose pioneering work in protein chemistry and cellular penetration mechanisms informs our ADC design strategies. Dr. Raines, recipient of the Murray Goodman Memorial Prize and the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Khorana Prize, brings invaluable expertise in protein structure and cellular entry that enhances our ADC development capabilities. Today, empowered by advances across chemistry, protein engineering, and cancer biology, we are at the forefront of engineering custom-designed ADCs with potentially transformative applications in cancer treatment
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 targeted 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.
