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Daniel Chen and Synthetic Design Lab announce $20M launch to advance ADC innovation

Daniel Chen/LinkedIn

Apr 25, 2025, 20:27

Daniel Chen and Synthetic Design Lab announce $20M launch to advance ADC innovation

Daniel Chen, Founder and CEO of Synthetic Design Lab, shared a post on LinkedIn by Synthetic Design Lab, adding:

“When I first joined Genentech in 2006, I asked Sean Bohen, MD, PhD, with whom I had trained at Stanford, what emerging therapy he was most excited about. Without missing a beat, he said look at the drug that would become KADCYLA, one of the first antibody drug conjugates, that was then in Phase I. Since that moment, we’ve seen the emergence of powerful biologic therapies in, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, T cell engagers and ENHERTU, an ADC, all based on IgG antibodies that are a natural part of our immune response.

However, at Synthetic Design Lab, we think our field is primed to do so much more. Science and Engineering have advanced dramatically since 2006. We are ready to build better, smarter therapies that leverage our increasing understanding of the relationship between Science, Technology, Biophysics, AI and Engineering.

We have built Synthetic Design Lab to address this challenge – born of the advances in these areas, and designed to lead the coming step change in what’s possible. As with any nascent technology, a product focus is necessary, and we believe ADCs are a perfect place to focus. But as we look to the future, we believe anything is possible, limited only by human ingenuity, creativity, and our ability to partner with AI.”

Quoting Synthetic Design Lab’s post:

“We are thrilled to announce that Synthetic Design Lab is emerging from stealth with $20M in seed financing to advance next-generation ADCs. Our mission is to revolutionize what is possible with targeted delivery of a payload. Our proprietary technology is engineered to optimize targeted payload delivery of 10-fold or greater compared to current ADCs, potentially improving upon the efficacy, safety, and overall versatility of earlier ADCs. Visit us at SyntheticDesignLab.com, and follow our journey as we seek to reshape the future of cancer therapy.”

Daniel Chen announced the launch of Synthetic Design Lab, a biotech venture focused on next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), backed by $20 million in seed funding. The company aims to harness recent advances in AI, biophysics, and engineering to improve the precision and impact of biologic therapies. Their technology claims a tenfold increase in targeted payload delivery over existing ADCs, with an initial focus on oncology applications.

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Daniel Chen and Synthetic Design Lab announce $20M launch to advance ADC innovation