‘Researcher of the Year’ comes good with Sortera Bio’s deep screening technology developed at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Sortera Bio – incorporated August 2023 – has moved out of stealth as it develops the therapeutic potential of deep screening technology developed at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge.
The spin-out’s AI-powered high-throughput drug discovery platform, Deep Screening, was developed and validated by Ben Porebski and Philipp Holliger at the LMB.
Dr Porebski, who won the ‘Researcher of the Year’ award at the 2024 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards, serves as Sortera’s CEO and CTO, while Dr Holliger, who brings invaluable expertise and strategic guidance to the venture, serves on its board.
Sortera Bio’s mission is to redefine early biologics discovery and engineering using Deep Screening, an ultra-high-throughput method that enables rapid discovery of clinically relevant therapeutic candidates.
In a single Deep Screening experiment the sequence and functional data can be collected in parallel for up to three billion biologics, to enable the precise identification of potential therapeutic candidates with desirable drug-like properties in a matter of days, compared to months when using previous methods. The resulting datasets are used to train generative AI models which can predict novel and higher-affinity biologic sequences that encode potentially superior therapeutics, further accelerating drug discovery.
The development of Deep Screening was the result of rigorous research, refinement and validation by Ben and Philipp in the MRC LMB’s protein nucleic acid chemistry division, with support from AstraZeneca through the LMB-AstraZeneca Blue Sky Collaboration. This new drug discovery platform is the latest example of clinically relevant technology developed at the LMB and builds upon the LMB’s previous pivotal antibody technology research.
Jan Löwe, LMB director, said: “The LMB is proud to have supported the foundational work by Ben Porebski and Philipp Holliger that generated the powerful technology at the heart of Sortera Bio.
“It is especially important to consider that the technology was developed as part of the LMB’s Blue Sky collaboration with AstraZeneca, highlighting the benefits of close cross-sector collaborations. Innovation is a key part of what we do and the founding of Sortera Bio continues a long track record of spinning out exciting, useful and high-value companies.”
The Blue Sky collaboration, established in 2014, sees the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and AstraZeneca support a range of pre-clinical research projects to improve understanding of fundamental biology and disease and encourage innovative scientific thinking by sharing knowledge and technologies.
Since inception, AstraZeneca has contributed £12m, and LMB £6m and in-kind scientific input, under the collaboration.
Steve Rees, senior vice president, Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca, said: “Our Blue Sky collaboration with the LMB is a shining example of the benefits and impact of working together with a shared goal. We are proud to work side-by-side with partners to support scientific innovation, entrepreneurship and growth across Cambridge and beyond.”
Dr Porebski said: “We are thrilled to embark on this pioneering journey with the support of our investors and partners.
“The launch of Sortera Bio empowers us to leverage the advantage of our breakthrough research, with the ambition to rapidly discover precision biologics that can positively impact patients’ lives.”
