3Helix
Salt Lake City, US · Founded 2023 · Delaware corporation · 2 known investors
3Helix develops and sells collagen hybridizing peptides (CHP) and related conjugates for research and diagnostic applications. The company's products are designed to detect and bind denatured collagen chains in both laboratory and in vivo settings.
Also known as 3HELIX Inc · 3Helix Inc.
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Also in the syndicate · 1
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$3.7M disclosed across 1 of 2 rounds · 2023
▶$3.7MraisedNov 2023 · 8 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Michael FugmanDirector
- Michael YuDirector
- Noah NasserDirector
- Michael KirknessExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $6M
- Amount sold
- $3.7M
- First sale
- Oct 2023
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2023
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 20263Helix Inc is a Salt Lake City, Utah biotechnology company built around Collagen Hybridizing Peptides (CHPs), short single-stranded collagen-like peptides that bind damaged and denatured collagen by reforming a triple helix with unfolded collagen chains. The platform exploits structural differences between healthy and damaged collagen, allowing CHPs to target and localize to sites of collagen degradation both in vitro and in vivo. The company positions the technology for histopathology, detection of mechanical damage to tissue, collagen identification and cell invasion studies, and states that it is commercializing fibrotic diagnostics.
3Helix sells a catalog of CHP research reagents directly through its website, including fluorescent and affinity conjugates such as the 5-FAM conjugate (F-CHP), biotin conjugate (B-CHP) and Cy3 conjugate (R-CHP), each listed from $218, and an in vivo sulfo-Cy7.5 conjugate (sCy7.5-CHP) listed from $429. Products are supplied for internal research, development and educational use and are excluded from commercial, therapeutic or human diagnostic use under the company's terms of sale. Beyond reagents, 3Helix describes a bioACTIVE CHP platform intended to modulate collagen-driven biological processes, with a stated mission of translating damaged-collagen science into medicines for diseases driven by extracellular biology.
Founding story
3Helix was founded in 2015 by biomedical engineering professors Dr. Michael Yu and Dr. Yang Li, and works with CHP technology the two co-founders invented at Johns Hopkins University.
Business model
3Helix sells branded CHP reagents and distributed catalog items directly to laboratory customers via e-commerce, and licenses its patented CHP technology to industrial partners; the BASF agreement granted exclusive commercialization rights for the personal care field alongside an equity investment.
Product sales of CHP conjugates and related catalog reagents priced per unit (listed from $218 to $429 per item), plus licensing of the CHP platform to commercial partners.
Traction
The company reports its CHPs have been cited over 260 times, progressed the technology from laboratory scale to pilot stage, and secured an equity investment and exclusive personal care license with BASF, which planned initial CHP-based product launches in 2025 and has since launched NeoHelix Regenerate.
Latest developments
BASF has launched NeoHelix Regenerate, described as a new era of collagen product, and 3Helix has publicized its bioACTIVE CHP platform. Recent company blog posts in January 2026 address the use of CHPs to visualize and study cardiac fibrosis pathology and therapeutic efficacy.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
3Helix describes its CHP technology as the first platform to exploit the 3D structural difference between damaged and healthy collagen, and states its reagents have been cited more than 260 times in the literature.
Specific targeting of damaged and denatured collagen rather than total collagen, based on patented collagen-mimetic peptide chemistry originating from university research, with a product range spanning in vitro imaging reagents to in vivo probes and a bioACTIVE therapeutic-oriented platform.
Technology
Collagen Hybridizing Peptides are short, single-stranded, collagen-mimetic peptides sharing the Gly-X-Y repeating sequence of natural collagen. They hybridize with denatured or unfolded collagen chains by reforming the triple helix, providing specific binding to damaged collagen without binding intact collagen. The peptides are supplied as conjugates with fluorophores (5-FAM, Cy3, sulfo-Cy7.5) or biotin for imaging and detection applications, including in vivo use. The company also describes a bioACTIVE CHP platform for modulating collagen-driven processes.
Go-to-market
Direct online sales of research reagents through 3helix.com with multi-currency support, supported by scientific content and application pages, combined with partnership and licensing deals for field-specific commercialization.
Academic and industrial life science researchers working on collagen, fibrosis, histopathology, tissue mechanics and cell invasion; and corporate partners seeking to commercialize CHP technology, such as personal care ingredient producers.
Geography
Headquarters and operations at 675 Arapeen Dr, Ste. 302, Salt Lake City, Utah; shipping described to U.S. destinations with international invoicing and multi-currency web storefront, and a partner relationship with BASF entities in Germany and North America.
History
Established in 2015, 3Helix developed its CHP platform from laboratory scale to pilot stage and built a commercial catalog of CHP research reagents from its Salt Lake City base. In November 2023 it announced an innovation partnership with BASF combining an equity investment with a licensing agreement covering personal care applications, with BASF joining the 3Helix board. The company subsequently introduced its bioACTIVE CHP platform, and BASF has launched NeoHelix Regenerate, a CHP-based personal care offering.
Risks & controversies
Products are restricted to internal research, development and educational use and are expressly not authorized for therapeutic, human diagnostic, resale or other commercial purposes, limiting permitted applications for reagent customers. The exclusive license granted to BASF in personal care constrains 3Helix's own commercialization in that field.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 3
by search overlap
Companies competing with 3Helix for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Non-dilutive funding · 2 SBIR/STTR awards
Federal grants — no equity taken| Agency | Phase | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2019 | $1.4M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2016 | $149.6K |
Source: SBIR.gov award data (U.S. Small Business Administration). SBIR/STTR awards are competitive federal R&D grants and contracts — non-dilutive capital alongside any venture rounds above.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filings3Helix's website announces that BASF has launched NeoHelix Regenerate, a collagen-related personal care product built on the licensed CHP technology.
BASF and 3Helix announced an innovation partnership covering 3Helix's proprietary CHP technology, comprising an equity investment and a licensing agreement granting BASF exclusive rights to commercialize CHP solutions in the personal care market. BASF also joined the 3Helix board of directors and planned to launch initial CHP solutions in 2025. Other institutional investors also participated in the funding round.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structure▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- 3Helix3helix.com · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does 3Helix do?
- 3Helix develops Collagen Hybridizing Peptide technology that binds damaged collagen for research, diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
- Who are 3Helix's investors?
- 3Helix's investors include Utah Innovation Fund.
- How much funding has 3Helix raised?
- 3Helix has disclosed $3.7M raised across 1 of its 2 known rounds.
- Where is 3Helix headquartered?
- 3Helix is headquartered in Salt Lake City, US.