Protillion Biosciences

Protillion Biosciences is a privately held biotechnology company commercializing a high-throughput protein characterization platform for the discovery and optimization of therapeutic antibodies and other protein binders. The company positions protein measurement as the analog of next-generation sequencing for DNA: its stated aim is to generate quantitative protein data at scale so that candidate molecules can be selected on specificity, precisely tuned affinity (including ultra-high affinity), and manufacturability rather than through slower, lower-throughput screening.

The platform combines a library encoding protein-based drug candidates, a high-throughput protein analysis chip, and computational analysis that produces quantitative data across an entire library. According to the company, its instrumentation can characterize the binding affinity of on the order of one million antibody variants in a two-day automated run, and can deliver actionable insights in days where conventional industry practice can take months. The resulting large experimental datasets, described as being generated at amino acid resolution, are intended to train and validate machine-learning approaches to antibody and binder discovery.

The company was organized in 2019 to commercialize technology developed by Curtis Layton in the Stanford University laboratory of William Greenleaf. Its staff spans platform technology, hardware engineering, antibody engineering, bioinformatics, in vivo pharmacology, and finance/operations functions, with a board of directors including CEO Curtis Layton, Sean Kendall (ARCH Venture Partners), Malek Faham (Illumina Ventures), and co-founder David Walt, plus a scientific advisory board comprising Walt and Greenleaf.