Institute for Protein Design's de novo revolution

Seattle's Institute for Protein Design is growing an army of spinouts that build proteins from the ground up. With applications ranging from multivalent vaccines and synthetic cytokines to precision cell therapies, these companies could put de novo designed proteins on the map and bring forth a new generation of biologics.

"If we're successful, then the whole way biologics are made could change a lot in the next ten years. But I think currently, we're kind of on the fringe," said David Baker, who directs University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design (IPD) and is a professor of biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator...