April 12, 2024 Repost from Berkeley Bakar Labs -- As a PhD candidate, Glyphic Bio co-founder and CTO Daniel Estandian was puzzled. He saw a clear divide between areas researchers were interested in and the tools that actually existed to explore them. “DNA sequencing has been a hot topic for the past 20 years,” he says. “I found that interesting because biologists I worked with would only talk about proteins. So why isn’t there technology as good as DNA sequencing in the protein space?”
After Daniel met CEO Josh Yang via Nucleate Bio, the duo decided to create their own answer: Glyphic Bio. The venture capital-funded company’s single-molecule protein sequencer may upend the way that pharmaceuticals are developed. By modifying the standard process for sequencing proteins — including the use of a novel molecule that improves identification — their results are not only more accurate but also significantly faster than the predominant methods being used today.
“I’ve been working on it for six years. It’s an obvious problem that I find interesting,” Daniel says. “A lot of the people that want to work for Glyphic can also see the clear need for this technology and its profound effects on how we understand biology and treat diseases.”
The road certainly hasn’t been smooth, though. As new founders during a global pandemic, the Glyphic team has faced several unique hurdles. On top of navigating the already treacherous entrepreneurial landscape, they suffered equipment shortages and supply chain issues that made any progress difficult. Daniel remembers asking himself “How do we do science with nothing?”
But now, as he stands on the other side of these challenges, he only feels more ready than ever to tackle whatever comes his way. “When I first started, I kept asking myself ‘am I making the right decisions?’ Eventually, I learned to trust myself and my instincts. It takes a lot to be a founder. Nobody ever finds themselves in that role without a relevant background to be there.”
Yang and Estandian are building the company from Berkeley’s new Bakar BioEnginuity Hub, where they’re focused on such tasks as protein engineering, synthetic organic chemistry and assay development. The Hub’s labs and offices offer close access to the talent and resources of UC Berkeley and the broader East Bay biotech ecosystem, Yang said, allowing for interdisciplinary collaboration as well as the physical space to expand.
According to Moose O’Donnell, executive director of the Master of Translational Medicine Program, “Lots of people have the scientific chops, but they’re not necessarily paired with that level of innovation. Josh can combine the science with creativity.”
Yang was named the Forbes “30 Under 30 in Healthcare” list and was awarded a Biocom Life Science Catalyst Award in 2021. An inventor on six issued or filed patents, he attributes much of his success to the innovative spirit he found at Berkeley.
When Yang and Estandian began their work at Bakar in December of 2021 as the first tenants of the new space, they were a team of four. They now have 21 employees, including Elaine Su (B.S.’11, Ph.D.’18 BioE, Berkeley), David Gomez Siu (B.S.’22 BioE, Berkeley) and bioengineering undergrad Dexter Lai.
“The culture of innovation and entrepreneurship I experienced there was life-changing,” Yang said. “I want to pay it back — and to infuse my own companies with that remarkable drive to create something new.”
More about Glyphic Bio