Feb 12, 2015
Unchained Labs has a busy first day! Raises $25 million and closes first acquisition. Read more.
Unchained Labs has a busy first day! Raises $25 million and closes first acquisition.
Pleasanton, CA February 12, 2015 – Start-up life sciences tools company Unchained Labs burst onto the scientific scene today, announcing a $25 million Series A Financing and the acquisition of Optim, the world’s first and only multiplex protein stability platform for biologics. The financing was led by Novo Ventures, Canaan Partners and TPG Biotech.
Unchained Labs is committed to building the next cool life science tools company. One that matters. One without old school rules. One with products that’ll make a real difference in the research scientists do every day.
The first Unchained product, Optim, lets scientists unlock optimal biologic formulations simply and quickly. For the first time, researchers can measure multiple protein stability parameters – including denaturing temperature and aggregation onset temperature – on multiple samples simultaneously. Assays are high throughput, label-free, ultra-low volume and very easy to run.
Over 60 Optim platforms have been sold to biopharma and academic customers worldwide. Unchained Labs purchased the Optim technology from The Avacta Group. The start-up plans to continue to buy businesses and product lines and add their magic touch for developing breakthrough products and selling them like crazy.
“We had a great experience with Tim in the life science tools space in the past and we believe there is a real opportunity to build another substantial company together,” said Jack Nielsen from Novo Ventures. “Combining organic and inorganic growth has proven to be a powerful strategy for creating value in this space and we can’t wait to see Unchained Labs grow.”
“I love what I do and I am completely pumped about building another great tools company,” said Tim Harkness, Founder and CEO of Unchained Labs. “For me this is all about people. The right group of people can accomplish anything, and we are starting out with fantastic investors and employees who are committed to creating something special together. Optim is a one-of-a-kind product that will provide a solid foundation for us.”
About Unchained Labs
Unchained Labs is committed to building the next cool life science tools company. One that matters. One without old school rules. One with products that’ll make a real difference in the research scientists do every day. We plan to buy businesses and product lines and then add our magic touch for developing breakthrough products and selling them like crazy. Our first product, Optim, is the world’s first and only multiplex protein stability platform for biologics. We are located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Tim Harkness
Founder and CEO, Unchained Labs
tim.harkness@unchainedlabs.com
Download PDF of press release.
May 4, 2015
Unchained Labs lets the UNit loose. Read more.
Unchained Labs lets the UNit loose.
May 4, 2015 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs, a refreshingly new biologic tools company, extends its coming out to this year’s PEGS conference and launches the UNit — the first and only multiplex protein stability system for biologics. PEGS: The Essential Protein Engineering Summit takes place in Boston, May 4-8, 2015.
The UNit lets drug discovery researchers look at more protein stability parameters than any other tool out there. Its 7 applications, 144 sample a day throughput and 9 µL sample size ups their knowledge base on every formulation, gets them to the right candidates exponentially faster, and uses way less sample than existing techniques. They can make better decisions, make them earlier, and skip the wasted time and effort that goes into developing candidates with no potential.
“Protein unfolding and aggregation temperatures are the first two things formulation scientists need to get a handle on. With the UNit, they can screen both at the same time, and get their hands on data from 48 samples in 2 hours,” said Tim Harkness, Founder and CEO of Unchained Labs. “There isn’t another tool that can give scientists that much actionable information on protein stability that fast.”
The UNi consumable makes it all happen. It’s why the UNit can measure fluorescence and light scattering — techniques everybody’s got down — at the same time, label-free. To kick out unfolding and aggregation temp data for 144 samples a day with other techniques, researchers would quite literally need 30 competitive systems running in the lab at the same time. The UNit also lets them grab data on chemical denaturation, thermal recovery, isothermal stability, viscosity and membrane protein stability.
About Unchained Labs
Unchained Labs is committed to building the first cool biologic tools company. One that matters. One without old school rules. One with products that’ll make a real difference in the research scientists do every day. We plan to buy businesses and product lines and then add our magic touch for developing breakthrough products and selling them like crazy. Our first product, the UNit, is the world’s first and only multiplex protein stability platform for biologics. We are located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
Sr. Director of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Jun 4, 2015
Unchained Labs lands another win in the biologics stability market! Acquires AVIA Biosystems. Read more.
Unchained Labs lands another win in the biologics stability market! Acquires AVIA Biosystems.
June 4, 2015 ‐ Pleasanton, CA ‐ Unchained Labs upped its game in the biologics stability market today, announcing the acquisition of AVIA Biosystems, the developer of the Isothermal Chemical Denaturation (ICD) system for measuring biologic stability. This is the second acquisition for Unchained Labs this year.
The ICD system makes something that wasn’t possible before — the routine measurement of protein stability under denaturing conditions — totally doable. It completely automates the complex sample prep and data analysis needed to make these measurements, giving formulation scientists a true walk‐away solution. The ICD system is also a perfect complement for Unchained Labs’ first product, the UNit, which simultaneously measures the top two biologic stability indicators, protein unfolding and aggregation temperatures.
“We are totally committed to improving biologics characterization tools and the ICD is a great new tool that can actually help predict future drug stability,” said Tim Harkness, Founder and CEO of Unchained Labs. “The ICD and the UNit are a perfect pairing and really help establish us as the experts in protein stability. We have done a lot and done it quickly at Unchained Labs, but we are unwavering in our pledge to acquire any product or business that can make a real difference for biologics researchers.”
“I’m really looking forward to joining forces with the Unchained Labs team,” said Dr. Rick Brown, Co‐founder and President of AVIA Biosystems. “Together, our products will give drug discovery researchers the power to characterize and understand their biologics better than they ever could before.”
Unchained also announced the addition of $6 million to its Series A Financing, bringing the total Series A round to $31M. The original syndicate partners, Novo Ventures, Canaan Partners and TPG Biotech all participated in the financing.
About Unchained Labs
Unchained Labs is committed to building the next cool life science tools company. One that matters. One without old school rules. One with products that’ll make a real difference in the research scientists do every day. We plan to buy businesses and product lines and then add our magic touch for developing breakthrough products and selling them like crazy. We are located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
Sr. Director of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Jun 16, 2015
The new HUNK from Unchained Labs is turning heads! Read more.
The new HUNK from Unchained Labs is turning heads!
June 16, 2015 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs, a refreshingly new biologics tools company, UNleashed the HUNK today, the world’s first quantitative biologics stability predictor. The HUNK gives drug discovery scientists up-front insight on the stability of their protein formulations with information on how and if the safety and efficacy of their biologic will be affected during storage.
In a nutshell, the HUNK measures a time-tested thermodynamic value, ΔG, using chemical denaturation. This lets researchers determine if their protein will stay stable or aggregate over time. The kicker? The HUNK also tells them if their protein aggregates from the native or denatured state — something that can’t be done with any other tool today. Knowing which type of aggregation is the culprit gives scientists an immediate understanding of which corrective action to take. The HUNK also automates the complex sample prep and analysis process, making these once complicated and time-intensive measurements completely routine.
“The HUNK takes our biologics stability tools line up to the next level,” said Taegen Clary, Sr. Director of Marketing at Unchained Labs. “It UNlocks completely new and quantitative information about how proteins aggregate, and lets scientists visualize future stability in an entirely new way.”
About Unchained Labs
Unchained Labs is committed to building the first cool biologics tools company. One that matters. One without old school rules. One with products that’ll make a real difference in the research scientists do every day. We plan to buy businesses and product lines and then add our magic touch for developing breakthrough products and selling them like crazy. We are located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
Sr. Director of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Jul 9, 2015
Unchained Labs just can’t get enough, acquires Avid Nano, rocks out the new pUNk! Read more.
Unchained Labs just can’t get enough, acquires Avid Nano, rocks out the new pUNk!
July 9, 2015 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs just can’t get enough biologics stability tools, today announcing its acquisition of Avid Nano. Avid Nano designs, develops and manufactures highly sensitive dynamic light scattering (DLS) systems.
Also today, Unchained Labs UNcaged the pUNk, the world’s smallest, fastest and easiest to use protein sizing system. The pUNk is a high-performance DLS system that measures a protein’s hydrodynamic size, size distribution, aggregation population and molecular weight. Its speed and ease of use is all made possible by the low-cost BladeCell consumable, which is single use and only requires 5 µL of sample. The pUNk’s killer sensitivity comes from a proprietary optical design and distinct use of algorithms.
The Unchained Labs biologics stability tools line-up is quickly becoming one of the most enabling portfolios out there. First they nabbed the UNit, the only system that can simultaneously measure melting and aggregation onset temperatures. Next they captured the HUNK, the first fully automated platform that can predict if and how aggregation will occur. Today they snagged the pUNk, a highly sensitive tool for measuring protein size and aggregation.
“Wow! We have now acquired 3 product lines in 3 acquisitions in less than 5 months and we aren’t even close to done,” said Tim Harkness, CEO and Founder of Unchained Labs. “With this unique portfolio of tools we believe we can truly help researchers UNlock biologics stability.”
“I really look forward to joining the Unchained team,” said Ken Cunningham, Founder and CEO of Avid Nano. “DLS fits perfectly in the Unchained Labs portfolio and I am optimistic about where we can take the technology next.”
About Unchained Labs
Unchained Labs is committed to building the first cool biologics tools company. One that matters. One without old school rules. One with products that’ll make a real difference in the research scientists do every day. We plan to buy businesses and product lines and then add our magic touch for developing breakthrough products and selling them like crazy. We are located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
Sr. Director of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Feb 18, 2016
Unchained Labs takes it to the next level, acquires Freeslate. Read more.
Unchained Labs takes it to the next level, acquires Freeslate.
February 18, 2016 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs cranked its game up today, announcing its acquisition of Freeslate Inc., the leading provider of high-throughput solutions for biologics formulation development and small molecule chemistry. This is Unchained Labs’ 4th acquisition in 12 months.
Freeslate’s been partnering with Biopharma for over 20 years, developing configurable automation solutions that free scientists from major drug development bottlenecks. Their new FormPrep platform automates biologic formulation preparation and kicks out up to 12 formulations a day with only 20 minutes of prep time. Done manually, this would take 2-4 days plus a ton of hands-on time. Scientists move on to next steps way faster with FormPrep. Unchained Labs’ killer detection tools are that next step. Bringing these two biologics-focused portfolios together lets scientists analyze more biologics and formulations than ever.
“This deal is a game-changer. Freeslate’s scale combined with Unchained Labs’ growth and capital creates a real juggernaut in the biologics formulation process,” said Tim Harkness, Founder and CEO of Unchained Labs. “No one is better positioned to build the next generation of biologics tools, and we’re just getting started.”
“Freeslate has made great progress over the past five years, and this transaction makes great sense for the business, our customers and employees,” said John Senaldi, President and CEO of Freeslate. “Unchained Labs shares Freeslate’s commitment to customer success and I’m confident the business is in the right hands.”
In just over a year, Unchained Labs has grown to 110 employees, $25M+ in annual revenue, has direct distribution around the world and 6 product lines focused on helping researchers build better biologics. In connection with this transaction, the company raised $25 million in a Series B financing. The original syndicate partners, Novo Ventures, Canaan Partners and TPG Biotech all participated in the financing.
About Unchained Labs
Here’s the deal. We’re all about helping biologics researchers break free from tools that just don’t cut it. Unleashing problem-tackling products that make a huge difference in the real science they do every day. That’s our mantra, our promise and we own it. We’re located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
VP of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Mar 14, 2016
Unchained Labs marches out the GRUNT. Read more.
Unchained Labs marches out the GRUNT.
March 14, 2016 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs, the life sciences company that’s all about getting biologics researchers the right tool for the job, today launched the GRUNT, the world’s first automated formulation preparation system. The GRUNT is the latest addition to Unchained Labs’ product line up, the 4th in less than a year.
The GRUNT unchains researchers from the time-consuming, old-school processes for making biologic formulations. Common steps like buffer prep, exchange, dialysis and sample concentration for a formulation screen can take days – and it’s all manual. With the GRUNT, scientists only spend 20 minutes on set up, picking buffers, entering parameters and loading lab wear. The GRUNT handles everything else. It does all the dirty work so they can focus on the big stuff.
“Hands-off protein formulation with the GRUNT lets scientists focus on solving key challenges instead of watching the clock for when they need to change out a buffer or get to the centrifuge. It also records every step of the process and cuts down on their documentation time,” said Taegen Clary, VP of Marketing at Unchained Labs. “The GRUNT lets our customers whip out more formulations than ever before, and more of those conditions can be characterized with our UNit, HUNK and pUNk systems. So we’re majorly upping a researcher’s odds of finding the best biologic formulation faster.”
About Unchained Labs
Here’s the deal. We’re all about helping biologics researchers break free from tools that just don’t cut it. Unleashing problem-tackling products that make a huge difference in the real science they do every day. That’s our mantra, our promise and we own it. We’re located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
VP of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Apr 25, 2016
Unchained Labs wants you to meet our new UNcle. Read more.
Unchained Labs wants you to meet our new UNcle.
April 25, 2016 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs, the life sciences company that’s all about getting biologics researchers the right tool for the job, launched their UNcle at the PEGS Boston conference today. UNcle is the first all-in-one biologics stability platform, combining dynamic light scattering for protein sizing with label-free fluorescence plus static light scattering for thermal stability measurements. With the UNcle add to the Company’s analytical portfolio, researchers can really tackle all of their formulation and stability characterization challenges head-on.
UNcle is a mash up of 2 key Unchained Labs tools, joining the UNit’s multiplexed stability measurements with the pUNk’s sensitive DLS detection. Scientists are now able to get all the size, aggregation, thermal ramp, isothermal and viscosity information they need with one platform, and use way less protein in the process. Using UNcle, they can also measure many of these parameters in the same experiment, and do it on up to 48 simultaneous samples for the first time ever.
“UNcle is a one-stop characterization shop and a better bang for the lab buck when it comes to assessing biologic stability,” said Taegen Clary, VP of Marketing at Unchained Labs. “Biologics researchers can now stop wrestling with the disjointed stability data they get from sub-optimal tools. UNcle gives them a better sense of how stable their proteins and formulations are, and they can grab that data on a single platform designed specifically for that purpose.”
About Unchained Labs
Here’s the deal. We’re all about helping biologics researchers break free from tools that just don’t cut it. Unleashing problem-tackling products that make a huge difference in the real science they do every day. That’s our mantra, our promise and we own it. We’re located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
VP of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
Aug 1, 2016
Unchained Labs makes lab automation a no-brainer with freeslate and freeslate jr. Read more.
Unchained Labs makes lab automation a no-brainer with freeslate and freeslate jr.
August 1, 2016 – Pleasanton, CA – Unchained Labs, the life sciences company that’s all about getting biologics researchers the right tool for the job, launched their freeslate and freeslate jr. systems for biologics formulation, small molecule preformulation and process chemistry today. These platforms automate laboratory workflows that currently eat up tons of time for individual researchers.
Freeslate takes on the hard stuff in the lab and gives scientists automated, high-throughput, end-to-end workflow solutions. Researchers can churn through more screens, conditions and structures earlier in the development process and get to their most stable biologic, the best druggable form of their API or primo reaction conditions way faster. Freeslate also lets them run hundreds of experiments in parallel and do it with way less material, so rapid and deep exploration of their formulation space or chemical formula is totally doable.
Freeslate jr. lets researchers walk up, set up their run and walk away. It automates the hands-on, back and forth tasks scientists do one by one at the bench now, and turns all of it into one entirely routine, high-throughput process. Scientists can crank through more samples in a single day and get everything done the same, consistent way every time.
“Today, freeslate and freeslate jr. systems are solving major workflow problems all over the place,” said Taegen Clary, VP of Marketing at Unchained Labs. “Scientists dealing with bottlenecks in their biologics formulation, small molecule preformulation or chemistry workflows really need to check out the freeslate systems – odds are we have a solution that will break through them.”
About Unchained Labs
Here’s the deal. We’re all about helping biologics researchers break free from tools that just don’t cut it. Unleashing problem-tackling products that make a huge difference in the real science they do every day. That’s our mantra, our promise and we own it. We’re located in Pleasanton, CA and can be found online at www.unchainedlabs.com.
Contact:
Taegen Clary
VP of Marketing, Unchained Labs
taegen.clary@unchainedlabs.com
925.587.9806
Download PDF of press release.
