{"id":70166,"title":"INVITRIS - Simplifying drug development \u0026 manufacturing","tagline":"Our biotech platform creates the newest drugs in shortest time","body":"### **Tl;dr**\n\nAt Invitris we're creating **protein-based drugs**, such as the next generation of antibiotics. To do this at scale, we created a platform called **Phactory**, that can turn DNA into synthetic proteins. Phactory makes the development of novel protein-based drugs 10,000x more efficient and cuts down the material costs by 100x.\\\n—\n\nHi everyone! This is [**Kilian** ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kilian-vogele-21a321183/)and [**Patrick**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickgrossmannbioinformatics/) from INVITRIS, a Munich-based life science company.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=70166\u0026key=user_uploads/89898/df875741-b00f-4ba8-b56f-48cee390fbf1)\n\n# **Protein-based drugs are powerful but expensive**\n\nWhile only 2% of all treatments are based on protein-based drugs, these drugs generate 40% of the total drug revenue. One of the reasons why they are so expensive is that you need living cells, like bacteria, to produce them. **Handling living cells is error-prone** and **scales terribly** because you have to establish new processes for every new drug.\n\n# **One platform to synthesize them all**\n\nOur universal biotech platform, **Phactory**, takes DNA and uses it to synthesize proteins in a single step. It mimics the molecular machinery you find in living cells but can be stored in conventional vessels.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=70166\u0026key=user_uploads/1163538/e720da18-e212-42d5-9a13-a5e53fbecc80)\n\nThis platform is based on Kilian’s groundbreaking research during his PhD, which was honored in the famous magazine [**Science** ](https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/bacteriophages-modern-way)and was also featured on [**German national TV**](https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/zdf-morgenmagazin/moma-future-viren-gegen-bakterien-100.html)!\n\nOur primary focus area is **bacteriophages** - natural viruses that cannot attack humans but bacteria, even when those have become resistant to antibiotics. We are therefore tackling a problem that is expected to cause 25% more deaths per year than all cancers combined in the next decades: [multidrug-resistant infections](https://www.stopamr.eu/blog/new-studies/no-more-wake-up-calls-amr-is-now-the-leading-cause-of-death-worldwide/).\n\n# **We believe in collaboration and partnering!**\n\nBuilding new protein-based products is hard. We can help each other.\n\n* We are constantly looking for **biopharmaceutical partners** seeking innovation!\n* Intros to companies developing antibacterial products in animal health or agriculture are also welcome!\n* If you **struggle with protein synthesis** in general - we can help!\n* Know anyone who is experienced in scaling cell-free expression under GMP? Reach out!\n\nAny outreach is highly appreciated:\u003chttps://invitris.com/contact/\u003e\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=70166\u0026key=user_uploads/1163538/d016e457-3a55-4651-a7f6-6308d85772cb)\n\n","slug":"IFi-invitris-simplifying-drug-development-manufacturing","created_at":"2023-03-10T22:48:50.259Z","updated_at":"2026-05-25T00:54:33.528Z","total_vote_count":45,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/IFi-invitris-simplifying-drug-development-manufacturing","share_image_url":"//bookface-static.ycombinator.com/assets/ycdc/yc-og-image-c440a0ad1dacfb86eeeb343717479cc54d256614449b4ef719977a0a451f8bc8.png","company":{"id":28159,"name":"Invitris","slug":"invitris","url":"https://invitris.com/","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b31c6e14e61e0a7e292383c88d7094914a492565.png","batch":"Winter 2023","industry":"Healthcare","tags":["Biotech","Nanotechnology","Drug discovery"],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/28159"}}