What BrickBio does

BrickBio is a Boston-based biotechnology company founded in 2019 that develops a proprietary protein bioconjugation platform centered on its Evolved tRNA Localization (ETRNAL) technology for site-specific incorporation of synthetic amino acids into proteins. The platform spans both bacterial and mammalian expression systems and underpins multiple product lines including the BrickADC Platform for antibody-drug conjugates, the VADER directed evolution system for mammalian tRNA/synthetase optimization, the SiteSelect Panel for predictive conjugation site screening, eCLIC chemistry for rapid conjugation, Protein Origami for multimeric protein complexes, and a Synthetic Virology platform for engineered viral vectors. The underlying technology originated from Dr. Abhishek Chatterjee's laboratory at Boston College and was published in Nature Methods in December 2022, with reported performance metrics including 10x more efficient synthetic amino acid incorporation machinery, 5x faster stable cell line development with 7x enhanced production, and ADCs demonstrated to be 5x safer and more efficacious than competing conjugation strategies.

The company operates as a B2B platform technology business targeting pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for co-development of next-generation therapeutics including ADCs, bispecific conjugates, and novel scaffolds. Revenue is generated through strategic platform partnerships with undisclosed large pharma partners, supplemented by commercialized research-use-only (RUO) kits for the research community. The go-to-market model is enterprise field sales targeting mega and large-cap pharmaceutical companies. BrickBio has received investment from Tiger Gene L.L.C. (co-founded with Tiger Management L.L.C.) and a 2024 strategic investment from Samsung Life Science Fund through Samsung Ventures. The company is led by CEO and co-founder John Boyce (also Managing Director of Tiger Gene), with Chief Scientific Officer Audrey Warner, VP of Commercial Development James Italia, and scientific leadership from Abhishek Chatterjee (Boston College) and Colby Souders serving as Senior Advisors and SAB Chairmen.

Name

BrickBio

Legal name

BrickBio Inc.

Website

https://brickbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BrickBio is a Boston-based biotech developing a proprietary protein bioconjugation platform using unnatural amino acid technology, serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners with site-specific conjugation tools for antibody-drug conjugates, bispecific conjugates, and engineered protein therapeutics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bioconjugation Technology

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Protein Engineering & Directed Evolution Platforms (enzyme/therapeutic protein optimization) (HLAAAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Engineered Protein Therapeutics (de novo/AI-designed proteins, novel scaffolds) (HLAAAAAJ)

Keywords

• Protein bioconjugation
• Antibody-drug conjugates
• Unnatural amino acids
• Site-specific conjugation
• Protein engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Platform Technology Partnerships: BrickBio partners with pharmaceutical companies to develop best-in-class therapeutics using its proprietary bioconjugation platform. Revenue is generated through strategic partnerships, co-development agreements, and potentially licensing of platform technologies for therapeutic development.
2. RUO Kits and Research Reagents: The company also commercializes research-use-only (RUO) kits with proprietary bioconjugation strategies, providing another revenue stream from the research community.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

BrickBio develops a proprietary bioconjugation platform that uses evolved tRNA molecules (ETRNAL Platform) for the site-specific incorporation of synthetic amino acids into protein backbones across bacterial and mammalian expression systems. The company partners with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific conjugates, multi-payload conjugates, and engineered viral vectors, and also commercializes research-use-only (RUO) kits for the research community.

Product overview

BrickBio offers a unified bioconjugation platform centered on its ETRNAL Platform technology, which enables site-specific protein modification using evolved tRNA molecules. The platform encompasses multiple integrated products: the BrickADC Platform for antibody-drug conjugate development, the SiteSelect Panel for rapid site optimization, the VADER System for stable cell line development, eCLIC Chemistry for enhanced conjugation, Protein Origami for multimeric protein complexes, and Synthetic Virology for modified viral vectors. These products work together to enable development of next-generation biologics including ADCs, bispecific conjugates, and novel scaffolds with improved therapeutic characteristics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ETRNAL Platform: Evolved tRNA Localization Platform enabling 10x more efficient machinery for synthetic amino acid incorporation
• BrickADC
• VADER System
• eCLIC Chemistry
• SiteSelect Panel
• Protein Origami
• Synthetic Virology

Products and services

• ETRNAL Platform Industry-leading mammalian expression platform using evolved tRNA molecules for homogenous, site-specific incorporation of synthetic amino acid conjugation handles into novel, optimized sites in any protein backbone. Sold/partnered to pharmaceutical and biotech companies for therapeutic development.
• BrickADC Platform Antibody-drug conjugate platform utilizing stable conjugation sites to shield ADC payloads and optimize activity; BrickBio ADCs demonstrated 5x safer and more efficacious outcomes than other conjugation strategies with the same linker-payload. Used by pharmaceutical partners for ADC development.
• SiteSelect Panel Rapid predictive site-selection panel for ADC-linker-payload optimization; generates ADCs with 50+ predictive sites across the entire ADC backbone and delivers thorough ADC generation and assay-based assessment within two weeks. For pharmaceutical partners developing ADCs.
• VADER System Proprietary directed evolution system for mammalian tRNA and synthetase machinery enabling stable cell line development 5x faster than previous industry leaders with 7x enhanced production; requires on average 10x fewer genetic modifications compared to competing technologies.
• eCLIC Chemistry Rapid next-generation conjugation chemistry offering enhanced efficiency and scalability across both bacterial and mammalian expression platforms for protein conjugate development.
• Protein Origami Platform Platform enabling spatial orientation of multiple proteins into multimeric complexes, resulting in synergistic modalities previously impossible to generate and allowing conjugation at previously inaccessible sites for unprecedented biophysical characteristics.
• Synthetic Virology Platform Platform for retargeting capsids via protein conjugation to engineer tropisms, improve safety, increase infectivity, and eliminate immunogenicity in viral vectors for gene therapy delivery; produced in-vivo data demonstrating conserved tropism, no immunogenicity, and 2X infectivity with improved AAV half-life.
• RUO Kits and Research Reagents Research-use-only (RUO) kits incorporating BrickBio's proprietary bioconjugation strategies, commercialized to the academic and industrial research community as a separate revenue stream.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5x safer and more efficacious ADCs compared to other conjugation strategies with the same linker-payload
• +3 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• External Cytokine PartnerminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2021BrickBio is working with a renowned external partner to assess the performance of novel cytokine biologics produced using the eCLIC chemistry in BrickBio's proprietary bacterial platform. The collaboration focuses on evaluating novel cytokine biologics development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Pyxis Oncology: Pyxis Oncology is an emerging ADC platform company developing antibody-drug conjugates for cancer therapy, with partial overlap to BrickBio's BrickADC platform focus.

Broad incumbents

• Lonza: Lonza operates one of the largest bioconjugation and ADC manufacturing services franchises (including Synaffix-adjacent offerings), serving the same pharma customers seeking site-specific conjugation solutions.
• Pfizer (Seagen): Through its Seagen acquisition, Pfizer operates a leading ADC franchise and platform that competes broadly with BrickBio for pharma partner attention in site-specific conjugation innovation.
• WuXi STA: WuXi STA is a leading global bioconjugation CDMO providing site-specific conjugation services to pharma partners, directly competing for the same ADC and protein therapeutic partnership pipeline as BrickBio.
• Catalent Biologics (Novo Holdings): Catalent is a large CDMO with established bioconjugation and ADC manufacturing capabilities; now part of Novo Holdings, it competes for the same pharma bioconjugation partnership work that BrickBio targets.

Direct peers

• Mersana Therapeutics: Mersana is a clinical-stage ADC platform company developing next-generation antibody conjugates with novel payloads and linkers, directly competing for the same pharma/biotech ADC partnership opportunities.
• Heidelberg Pharma: Heidelberg Pharma operates an ADC platform based on amanitin payload conjugation technology, competing for the same next-generation ADC partnership pipeline as BrickBio.
• Synaffix (Lonza): Synaffix (acquired by Lonza) provides site-specific ADC conjugation technology and licensing to pharma partners, directly competing with BrickBio's bioconjugation platform in the ADC enablement market.
• Bolt Biotherapeutics: Bolt is developing immune-stimulating antibody conjugates (ISACs), representing an emerging ADC platform approach that overlaps with BrickBio's therapeutic conjugation focus.
• Ambrx: Ambrx develops site-specific ADCs and protein therapeutics using proprietary unnatural amino acid technology, making it the closest direct technical analogue to BrickBio's ETRNAL/UAA bioconjugation platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BrickBio