A-Alpha Bio
A-Alpha Bio is a Seattle-based biotechnology company that combines synthetic biology and machine learning to measure, predict, and engineer protein-protein interactions for pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and government agencies developing biologics, molecular glues, and antibody therapeutics.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersSeattle, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What A-Alpha Bio does
A-Alpha Bio is a Seattle-based private biotechnology company founded in 2017 at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design and Center for Synthetic Biology. The company combines synthetic biology and machine learning to measure, predict, and engineer protein-protein interactions, operating an integrated platform of two core products: AlphaSeq, an experimental platform that uses yeast surface display libraries to quantitatively measure millions of protein-protein binding affinities simultaneously, and AlphaBind, a machine learning system trained on 750+ million affinity measurements that predicts binding strength from protein sequence. The company has measured over one billion protein-protein interactions to date and has expanded the platform with AlphaSeq 3D (small-molecule screening for molecular glue discovery) and AlphaPan (an in-house 100B+ diversity phage display antibody library).
The company serves pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, academic research institutions, and government/defense agencies. Strategic enterprise partnerships include Bristol Myers Squibb and Amgen for molecular glue discovery, Gilead Sciences for broadly neutralizing HIV antibody engineering, and a Department of Defense-funded collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for biothreat antibody discovery totaling approximately $16.9M in grant funding across 2023-2024. Additional customers include Bayer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Broad Institute, and Voyager Therapeutics, with recent channel expansion through integration into Amazon Web Services' Amazon Bio Discovery platform as a CRO partner.
A-Alpha Bio generates revenue primarily through platform-as-a-service contracts with pharmaceutical partners for antibody discovery, optimization, and protein-protein interaction data generation, supplemented by collaborative drug discovery programs that include milestone-based funding and potential downstream royalties. The company employs 101-250 staff and has raised approximately $60M+ across equity rounds (a $20M Series A in 2021 led by Madrona and a $22.4M round in 2023 led by Perceptive Advisors) and non-dilutive government grants. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.
A-Alpha Bio firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- A-Alpha Bio
- Legal name
- A-Alpha Bio, Inc.
- Website
- https://aalphabio.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- A-Alpha Bio is a Seattle-based biotechnology company that combines synthetic biology and machine learning to measure, predict, and engineer protein-protein interactions for pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and government agencies developing biologics, molecular glues, and antibody therapeutics.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
A-Alpha Bio industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Drug Discovery Platforms
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Protein Interaction & Structural Biology Platforms (cryo-EM, X-ray, NMR, biophysics) (HLAAAIAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE), Protein Engineering & Directed Evolution Platforms (enzyme/therapeutic protein optimization) (HLAAAIAC)
Keywords
Where A-Alpha Bio is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seattle
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
A-Alpha Bio business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Platform-as-a-Service for Partners: A-Alpha Bio offers its AlphaSeq platform as a service to pharmaceutical partners and research institutions to obtain high-resolution protein binding data at library-on-library scale. Revenue is generated through service contracts with pharmaceutical companies for antibody discovery, optimization, and data generation. Partnerships include major pharma companies (BMS, Amgen, Gilead) and research institutions.
- Collaborative Drug Discovery Programs: The company conducts collaborative therapeutic development programs with pharmaceutical partners, such as the partnership with Gilead to engineer a broadly neutralizing HIV treatment, and partnerships with Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb for molecular glue discovery. These partnerships likely involve milestone-based funding and potential downstream royalties.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
A-Alpha Bio product offering
Product offeringCore offering
A-Alpha Bio provides proprietary protein-protein interaction measurement and prediction platforms, combining synthetic biology (AlphaSeq) with machine learning (AlphaBind) to enable pharmaceutical and biotech partners to discover and optimize antibodies, molecular glues, and other biologics. The company delivers its platforms as a service, generating on-demand high-throughput binding affinity data and ML-guided design support for partners including Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Gilead Sciences, the U.S. Department of Defense, and academic institutions.
Product overview
A-Alpha Bio offers an integrated platform of two core products: AlphaSeq (experimental platform for multiplexed protein-protein interaction measurement) and AlphaBind (computational platform for ML-based binding prediction), working together in a continuous improvement cycle. The AlphaSeq + AlphaBind platform is supplemented by AlphaPan (100B+ antibody phage library) and AlphaSeq 3D (small molecule screening extension). The company operates both as a platform provider for pharmaceutical partners (Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Gilead, Google) and as a CRO service provider generating on-demand protein interaction data.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- AlphaSeq Proprietary experimental platform for quantitative, multiplexed measurement of protein-protein binding affinities using synthetic biology and yeast surface display libraries. Measures physiologically relevant interaction strengths spanning picomolar to micromolar affinities and has generated over one billion protein-protein interactions across antibodies, cell surface receptors, intracellular proteins, bacterial/viral antigens, and peptides. Delivered as a service to pharmaceutical and biotech partners for antibody discovery, optimization, and on-demand data generation.
- AlphaBind Machine learning platform trained on over 750 million protein-protein affinity measurements that predicts binding strength from protein sequence. Predicts expression, stability, solubility, and other developability properties to enrich designs. Supports rapid design-validate iteration cycles of approximately six weeks with AlphaSeq, enabling partners to fuel and refine predictive ML models for antibody and biologics discovery.
- AlphaSeq 3D Extended version of the AlphaSeq experimental platform that directly screens small molecule libraries against networks of effectors and targets to identify molecular glue compounds that induce proximity between proteins. Designed to amplify hit rates for molecular glue discovery campaigns.
- AlphaPan In-house phage display library featuring a diversity of over 100 billion antibodies, used to discover hundreds of sequence- and epitope-diverse antibody hits against targets of interest. Serves as a starting input for downstream AlphaSeq and AlphaBind workflows.
Companies that use A-Alpha Bio
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
A-Alpha Bio technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability3 records
Feature4 records
A-Alpha Bio partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Amazon Web Services (Amazon Bio Discovery)coreA-Alpha Bio is listed as a CRO partner (coming soon) in Amazon Web Services' Amazon Bio Discovery platform. The platform enables researchers to computationally design antibody candidates and submit them directly to CRO partners including A-Alpha Bio for wet-lab synthesis and testing, with results automatically flowing back into the application to improve subsequent design cycles.
- Tamarind BiocorePartnership to accelerate AI-enabled antibody discovery by integrating A-Alpha Bio's AlphaSeq experimental validation platform directly into Tamarind Bio's computational biology tools. The partnership enables researchers using AI design tools like RFdiffusion and ProteinMPNN to submit predicted antibody sequences for quantitative binding affinity measurements, creating a seamless closed-loop workflow from in silico design to experimental validation.
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)coreCollaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory supported by Department of Defense funding ($14.5 million in 2024, $2.4 million in 2023) to generate large-scale antibody-antigen binding data for drug discovery against biological threats. The effort focuses on training machine learning models for antibody design targeting multiple pathogen families, including biothreats, and aims to develop rapid response capabilities against emerging biothreats, building on success with coronavirus and other pathogen families.
- Bristol Myers SquibbcoreStrategic partnership for molecular glue discovery. The collaboration aims to identify and validate novel weak interactions to inform molecular glue discovery campaigns, unlocking previously undruggable targets and broadening the impact of induced proximity therapeutics.
- AmgencoreStrategic partnership for molecular glue discovery, leveraging A-Alpha Bio's platform to measure otherwise undetectable interactions between effector and target proteins at unprecedented scale and sensitivity.
- Gilead SciencescorePartnership with Gilead to engineer a broadly neutralizing HIV treatment using cross-reactive binders targeting species homologs and highly mutable viruses. Also involved in other antibody engineering applications.
- University of WashingtoncoreFounding institution partnership. A-Alpha Bio was founded in 2017 at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design and Center for Synthetic Biology. Ongoing research partnership.
- Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationminorPartner logo displayed on company website, indicating partnership for global health initiatives.
- Institute for Protein Design (IPD)coreFounding institution partnership. A-Alpha Bio was founded at UW's Institute for Protein Design.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
A-Alpha Bio competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- AbCellera Biologics: Antibody discovery platform company combining high-throughput wet-lab screening with AI/ML. Direct competitor in the antibody discovery and protein-protein interaction measurement space, also partnering with major pharma companies.
- Generate Biomedicines: Generative biology company using machine learning to design novel protein therapeutics. Most direct competitor in the AI-enabled protein engineering and biologics discovery space, with significantly larger funding.
- Adimab: Discovery and optimization platform for antibody-based therapeutics, with a yeast-based antibody display technology similar in approach to A-Alpha Bio's AlphaSeq. Comparable in operating model (platform-as-a-service to pharma partners).
- Absci: AI-powered generative antibody design company combining in-silico design with high-throughput wet-lab validation. Publicly-listed direct peer with a similar integrated approach to antibody discovery and optimization.
- BigHat Biosciences: AI/ML-driven antibody design platform using a wet-lab + computational closed loop similar to A-Alpha Bio's AlphaSeq + AlphaBind approach. Direct competitor in ML-enabled antibody engineering.
- Cradle Bio: AI protein engineering company offering generative models for protein design. Direct competitor in the AI-protein design space, with a software-and-services go-to-market model.
Broad incumbents
- Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet-owned drug discovery company applying AI (from DeepMind/AlphaFold) to pharmaceutical R&D. Broader scope than A-Alpha Bio but overlaps in computational protein design and binding prediction; substantially better capitalized.
- Recursion Pharmaceuticals: TechBio company combining high-throughput biology with AI/ML for drug discovery. Broader scope than A-Alpha Bio but overlapping in wet-lab + ML platform approach; public company with major pharma partnerships (including Roche, Bayer).
Emerging players
- Antiverse: UK-based AI antibody design startup using generative AI and computational biology. Emerging competitor in AI-driven antibody discovery with a narrower scope and earlier stage than A-Alpha Bio.
Others
- Denali Therapeutics: Biopharmaceutical company using biology and chemistry to discover and develop therapeutics, with established partnerships with pharma on biologics. Thematically adjacent through induced-proximity and biologics discovery, though not a direct platform competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
A-Alpha Bio social profiles
Digital presenceA-Alpha Bio financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
A-Alpha Bio leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
A-Alpha Bio funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds10 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
A-Alpha Bio M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about A-Alpha Bio
What does A-Alpha Bio do?
A-Alpha Bio provides proprietary protein-protein interaction measurement and prediction platforms, combining synthetic biology (AlphaSeq) with machine learning (AlphaBind) to enable pharmaceutical and biotech partners to discover and optimize antibodies, molecular glues, and other biologics. The company delivers its platforms as a service, generating on-demand high-throughput binding affinity data and ML-guided design support for partners including Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Gilead Sciences, the U.S. Department of Defense, and academic institutions.
Is A-Alpha Bio a public or private company?
A-Alpha Bio is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was A-Alpha Bio founded?
A-Alpha Bio was founded in 2017. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is A-Alpha Bio based?
A-Alpha Bio is headquartered in Seattle, United States, in the North America region.
How does A-Alpha Bio make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Platform-as-a-Service for Partners are the primary driver. The others are collaborative Drug Discovery Programs.
Who are A-Alpha Bio's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are AbCellera Biologics, Generate Biomedicines, Adimab, Absci, BigHat Biosciences and Cradle Bio. Broad incumbents are Isomorphic Labs and Recursion Pharmaceuticals. Antiverse is listed as an emerging player. Denali Therapeutics is listed as an others.
Does A-Alpha Bio have an API?
No public API is recorded for A-Alpha Bio.
What industry is A-Alpha Bio in?
A-Alpha Bio's product category is Drug Discovery Platforms. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAAIAH, Protein Interaction & Structural Biology Platforms (cryo-EM, X-ray, NMR, biophysics), with a secondary code of HLAAAIAE, AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 8731.