{"id":73562,"title":"🧪 Nanograb - Multivalent nanoparticles for next-generation targeted drugs","tagline":"We use AI to generate the best combination of binders to treat different diseases","body":"## 💊 **70% of drugs fail in clinical trials because of poor targeting**\n\nThese drugs need lower dosages due to their side effects. Targeting would minimise these side effects and mean that a smaller, more effective dose could be given to a patient. But there are no existing platforms for creating drugs that will target exactly where they need to be in the body.\n\nFor example in cancer, when scientists try to create targeted drugs, they use molecules like antibodies that attach to the cancerous cell at a single site on a single receptor. Since these cancerous cells have the same receptors as healthy cells, both types are killed by toxic payloads!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=73562\u0026key=user_uploads/983241/0e15bd9d-4ee0-419f-a114-8311a2bc4fa1)\n\n## 🎯 **Our product allows drugs to be targeted to very specific areas of the body**\n\nWe generate the best combination of binders using AI and a multivalent physics engine. We will do what no other technology is able to do:\n\n* Actively minimise binding to the wrong targets\n* Target new parts of the body that have been previously inaccessible\n\nNanograb’s vision is to transform the therapeutic landscape across the entire healthcare spectrum. Nanograb will be creating new therapies on-demand with next-generation targeting whether it’s [infinitely mutating cancers](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05729-x), [incurable neurodegenerative diseases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurodegenerative_disease) or [Disease X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease_X)\n\nOur scalable platform has proof of concept data _in vitro_ and _in vivo_ and our goal is to scale these methods to dozens of different applications.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=73562\u0026key=user_uploads/983241/9bd664c7-6e5f-4bb5-8ccc-bc6a89f951f3)\n\n## **🧠 Our founding team are experts in the field**\n\n* [**Debesh Mandal**](https://linkedin.com/in/debeshmandal) (CEO) completed PhD in computational biophysics and was the first software hire at FabricNano.\n* [**Shanil Panara**](https://linkedin.com/in/shanilpanara) (_In Silico_ Lead) dropped out of PhD to be our in silico lead, pioneering the deployment of our computational pipeline.\n* [**Christopher Lau**](https://linkedin.com/in/christopher-lau-54279815) (Product Lead) has experience delivering projects in energy, finance and biotechnology and brings a wealth of learnings from many industries.\n* [**Dr. Stefano Angioletti-Uberti**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefano-angioletti-uberti-b8319860/) (CSO) is the world leader in our theory having published the foundational papers on multivalency.\n* [**Professor Molly Stevens**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-stevens-81742822/) (Advisor) won the Novo Nordisk Prize 2023 and her research group are recognised as pioneers in the biotechnology space.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=73562\u0026key=user_uploads/983241/3faaa3cd-9ab7-47c1-8a7b-5fe4792cfa53)\n\n## **📢 Get in touch **[**here**](mailto:hello+launchbf@nanograb.com)** if you can help:**\n\n* We are building partnerships with **biopharma companies** and would love any introductions to **principal scientists** or **business leaders** who want to work with us.\n* If you are a **doctor** or **know any doctors** who would enjoy sitting on **our scientific advisory board,** we want to talk about these areas:\n  * Cancer\n  * Degenerative Diseases (e.g. for internal organs)\n  * Infectious Diseases\n  * Neurological Conditions","slug":"J8U-nanograb-multivalent-nanoparticles-for-next-generation-targeted-drugs","created_at":"2023-07-29T03:10:09.478Z","updated_at":"2026-05-25T03:04:38.679Z","total_vote_count":159,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/J8U-nanograb-multivalent-nanoparticles-for-next-generation-targeted-drugs","share_image_url":"//bookface-static.ycombinator.com/assets/ycdc/yc-og-image-c440a0ad1dacfb86eeeb343717479cc54d256614449b4ef719977a0a451f8bc8.png","company":{"id":29051,"name":"Nanograb","slug":"nanograb","url":"https://nanograb.com","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9ae1f1866a70286591b56aa5fd2f81bdf18af255.png","batch":"Summer 2023","industry":"Healthcare","tags":["AI-powered Drug Discovery","Nanomedicine","Biotech","Drug Delivery","Therapeutics"],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/29051"}}