About
We’ve reinvented how biologic drugs are invented
Lumen’s patented technology allows us to use the well-known food algae spirulina to deliver therapeutic proteins.
Patented technology with unlimited potential
The astonishingly high cost of traditional drug development meant that using orally delivered biologics to address therapeutic targets in the GI tract and other topical sites wasn’t commercially viable. That’s no longer true. Lumen’s patented biologic drug platform shortens the development process, reduces costs and risks, and accelerates time-to-market, making us the first company to make orally delivered antibody drugs commercially viable.
$65M
invested to date
23
issued patents
14
other patents pending
01
Formation
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Incorporated April 2017
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Foundational IP, core team, assets acquired from two predecessor entities
02
Funding
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$65 million in platform investment to date
03
Intellectual Property
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23 issued patents
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Issued patents include broad, composition-of-matter claims covering engineered spirulina, recognition that Lumen was the first in the world to engineer spirulina
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Broad continuation claims cover all long-term contemplated products
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14 other patents pending
04
Physical Capabilities
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50 FTEs, including >25 with MDs, PhDs, and other post-graduate degrees
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Fully integrated, on-premise, dedicated cGMP production facility with capacity for several kilograms of drug product per week
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Full-time clinical operations and FDA regulatory affairs team
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High-throughput strain engineering facility
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Advanced protein engineering and optimization
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Large-scale AI/machine learning–enabled yield optimization facility
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On-premise antibody selection and optimization capabilities (hit to the lead clinic), including advanced in silicoprotein engineering and optimization
A typical biosciences company assembles a group of individuals with a relatively narrow set of skills within a discipline and goes about its business. At Lumen, it’s the particularity of our key scientists’ individual skills and experiences—and the interplay among them—that have been a catalyst to discover and exploit the potential of this new platform organism. As a true platform company, we’re able to create our own portfolio of commercially viable biologic therapies, while establishing a foundation upon which an entirely new generation of scientific discoveries and therapies will be brought to market.
The multidisciplinary expertise of our key people makes them literally one-of-a-kind, but the fact that they’re working together on the same team gives Lumen a nearly unprecedented strategic advantage.
Brian Finrow
Expertise. Ingenuity. Execution.
We’ve assembled a talented group of leaders with deep expertise in synthetic biology, protein design, immunology, photobioreactor engineering and cell physiology, each with the vision and skills needed to achieve our mission.
Brian Finrow
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
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Adaptive Biotechnologies
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AltAir Fuels
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Cooley, LLP
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Harvard Law School
Jim Roberts
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
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Director, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, Basic Sciences Division
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Former HHMI Investigator
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Co-inventor of a mammalian cell
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Transformation technology
Craig Behnke
SVP, Production/Development
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Sapphire Energy
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Takeda Pharmaceuticals
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University of Washington, PhD, Biochemistry
Don Schlosser
CFO
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Veteran VC-backed technology company CFO
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Varolii Corp
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King Broadcasting
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Arthur D. Little
Michael Spigarelli
Chief Medical Officer
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University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business, MBA
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University of Michigan, Rackham Graduate School, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry
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University of Michigan Medical School, MD
Barry Stoddard
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Member, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, Basic Sciences Division
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Structural biology and protein design
Richard Guerrant
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Founding Director, Center for Global Health
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Professor of International Medicine, University of Virginia, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health
James Lord
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Assistant Member, Benaroya Research Institute
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Gastroenterology, University of Washington School of Medicine
George McDonald
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Professor Emeritus, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Gastroenterology
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Professor Emeritus, University of Washington Medical School
Jim Nataro
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Professor and Chair, Pediatrics
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University of Virginia School of Medicine
Scott Hensley
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Associate Professor of Microbiology Penn Institute for Immunology
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Michael Dodds
Executive Director, Integrated Drug Development
Certara
Brian Finrow
CEO & Co-Founder, Lumen
Jim Roberts, MD, PhD
CSO & Co-Founder, Lumen
George Montgomery
WestRiver Management
Rob Carlson
Bioeconomy Capital
Mark Litton
Athira Pharma
Inspired by science. Driven by results.
We are always on the lookout for creative, motivated people who want to make a difference.
See open positions