Manifold Bio - Comprehensive Analysis Report

Summary

Manifold Bio is a platform therapeutics company dedicated to revolutionizing drug discovery through AI-guided design and unprecedented experimental throughput in living systems. Its core mission is to overcome translational barriers in drug development by drastically increasing the scale of in vivo measurement. The company is pioneering an AI-driven approach combined with massively multiplexed in vivo measurement to create tissue-targeted biologics, with a significant early strategic focus on neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Manifold Bio is positioned to transform the development of life-saving medicines by building a generative drug design engine that learns directly from complex biological environments.

1. Strategic Focus & Objectives

Core Objectives

Manifold Bio's central objectives revolve around leveraging its proprietary in vivo screening and AI design engine to develop tissue-targeted therapeutics. Key goals include:

Sculpting pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and other critical properties of biologics directly in living systems to address challenges in tissue-specific delivery.

Advancing its protein engineering platform to support expanded indications and partnerships.

Accelerating internal drug programs, beginning with brain-specific delivery and subsequently expanding to other tissues.

Developing protein drugs for various conditions, including cancer.

Specialization Areas

The company specializes in precision protein engineering across diverse therapeutic areas. Its unique value proposition stems from:

A proprietary high-throughput in vivo (HTV) discovery engine that integrates massively multiplexed in vivo screening with AI-powered protein design.

Creating next-generation blood-brain barrier (BBB) shuttles for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.

Developing potent and tolerable new drug candidates through tissue-specificity.

Target Markets

Manifold Bio primarily targets market segments with unmet needs in tissue-specific drug delivery, particularly in:

Neurological diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases.

Oncology, through the development of protein drugs for cancer.

Its market positioning strategy involves a platform-first approach, enabling internal pipeline development and strategic collaborations to expand the reach of tissue-targeted medicines across various modalities and therapeutic areas.

2. Financial Overview

Funding History

Manifold Bio has successfully raised a total of $78.2 million across three funding rounds since its inception.

Seed Round (August 10, 2020): $5.4 million was raised.

Series A Round (June 2022): $40 million was secured. This round was led by Triatomic Capital, with significant participation from Section 32, FPV Ventures, Horizons Ventures, and Tencent.

Series A Round (November 18, 2024): An additional $32.8 million was raised.

Other institutional investors include Playground Global, Triatomic, S32, Future Perfect Ventures, and GettyLab.

Capital from these funding rounds is strategically utilized for:

Expanding its advanced protein engineering technology.

Developing internal protein drug programs, particularly for cancer.

Accelerating internal drug pipelines focusing on brain-specific delivery.

Advancing its protein engineering platform to support broader indications and strengthen partnership opportunities.

Manifold Bio's estimated annual revenue is approximately $8.4 million.

3. Product Pipeline

Key Products/Services

Manifold Bio's engine is enabling the development of potent and tolerable new drug candidates through tissue-specificity. The company is actively building an internal pipeline of novel medicines, focusing initially on brain-specific delivery before expanding to other tissues.

Internal Pipeline:
Developing novel therapeutics with a primary focus on creating next-generation blood-brain barrier (BBB) shuttles for the treatment of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. These shuttles aim to overcome the significant challenge of delivering medicines safely and efficiently across the BBB.

Expanding to other tissue targets beyond the brain.

Collaboration with Roche:

Manifold Bio is leading the research and discovery activities to identify and develop novel BBB shuttles specifically tailored to Roche's therapeutic payloads. This collaboration highlights the versatility and potential of Manifold Bio's platform to address critical drug delivery challenges in partnership with major pharmaceutical companies.

4. Technology & Innovation

Technology Stack

Manifold Bio has developed the first high-throughput in vivo (HTV) discovery engine, integrating massively multiplexed in vivo screening with AI-powered protein design.

Proprietary Technologies:
mCodes: Inert peptide barcodes are attached to therapeutic molecules, allowing simultaneous tracking and quantification of hundreds of candidate molecules across different tissues in a single animal. This system uses high-affinity detectors and DNA sequencing, offering single-digit picomolar sensitivity and a catalog of over 1,000 mCodes for millions of protein-barcode combinations.

mDesign AI-driven in vivo discovery engine: This platform combines AI-guided protein design with direct-to-vivo measurement. It enables the testing of thousands to millions of biologic variants directly in vivo at an unprecedented scale, yielding physiologically relevant data.

mShuttle Portfolio: A modular library of shuttles, engineered and optimized in vivo, designed to deliver payloads precisely across any tissue with high specificity and exposure.

Scientific Methodologies:

The company's approach combines cutting-edge AI-guided protein design with direct in vivo testing. This methodology aims to sculpt pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and other key properties of biologics.

It builds a predictive model of living systems by integrating high-throughput in vivo data, mapping biomolecule behavior within the complex environment of the body to empower rational therapeutic design.

Their generative design models can translate millions of in silico designs into real-world biologics through high-throughput synthesis and display, focusing on precise epitope targeting via structure-guided design and achieving zero-shot controllable design of protein binders with high experimental success rates.

Patents and Intellectual Property

Manifold Bio holds intellectual property related to its protein barcoding platform, which enables powerful multiplexed measurements. Their IP also includes rights to specific applications of their developed shuttles for particular therapeutic payloads.

5. Leadership & Management

Executive Team

Manifold Bio's leadership team comprises experienced professionals with expertise in AI, drug discovery, and corporate strategy.

Gleb Kuznetsov, Ph.D. (Co-founder and CEO)
Professional Background: Co-founded Manifold Bio in 2018.

Key Contributions: Leads the company with a vision to leverage large-scale in vivo data generation to power AI models, creating a generative drug design engine that learns directly from living systems. Focuses on scaling the engine into a durable business, developing internal pipelines, advancing partnerships, and building operational foundations to translate the platform into medicines across multiple disease areas.

LinkedIn Profile: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleb-kuznetsov/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleb-kuznetsov/)

Pierce Ogden, Ph.D. (Co-founder and CTO)

Professional Background: Co-founded Manifold Bio in 2018.

Key Contributions: Emphasized building the world's first AI system for the design of tissue-targeted biologics, informed by living biology. His work is crucial for the company's collaboration with Roche, validating this vision.

LinkedIn Profile: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierceogden/](https://https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierceogden/)

Shane Lofgren (Co-founder and Head of Strategy)
Professional Background: Co-founded Manifold Bio in 2018.

Key Contributions: Leads the company's strategic initiatives.

LinkedIn Profile: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-lofgren-81b4763/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-lofgren-81b4763/)

Paula Cobb (Chief Operating Officer)

Professional Background: Appointed in December 2025. Brings significant global development and business strategy expertise, having served on the Board of Directors at Prothena Corporation and held senior roles at Affinia Therapeutics, Decibel Therapeutics, and Biogen.

Key Contributions: Spearheads operational scaling and business strategy, translating the platform’s technical achievements into corporate growth.

Kimberly Scearce-Levie, Ph.D. (Chief Scientific Officer)
Professional Background: Appointed earlier in 2025. Possesses deep experience in drug discovery and development for neuroscience.

Key Contributions: Leads the translational application of the platform, solving complex delivery and targeting challenges across multiple indications.

Steve Holtzman (Executive Chair)

Professional Background: Extensively experienced in building industry-leading companies.

Key Contributions: Guides corporate strategy and maximizes the potential of the "AI x Bio" platform, playing a central role in Manifold Bio's platform-first strategy.

Doug Williams (Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board)
Key Contributions: Chairs the Strategic Advisory Board, providing guidance on strategic direction.

George Church (Co-founder)

Professional Background: Co-founded Manifold Bio in 2018 with colleagues from Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Key Contributions: Contributed to the foundational scientific vision of the company.

LinkedIn Profile: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-church-48130/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-church-48130/)

Recent Leadership Changes

Manifold Bio significantly expanded its executive leadership team in 2025, underscoring its focus on scaling its proprietary drug discovery engine and enhancing AI-guided initiatives.

Paula Cobb was appointed as Chief Operating Officer in December 2025.

Kimberly Scearce-Levie, Ph.D. was appointed as Chief Scientific Officer earlier in 2025.

6. Talent and Growth Indicators

Hiring Trends and Workforce

Manifold Bio has demonstrated significant workforce growth.

As of December 31, 2022, the company had 22 employees.

More recently, the estimated employee count has risen to 54, indicating a 6% growth in the last year.

The company is actively recruiting for key roles, such as Head of Biotherapeutics, signaling a strategic focus on expanding its internal protein sciences and protein engineering teams. This recruitment aims to strengthen its R&D-to-development pipeline for lead candidates. Manifold Bio emphasizes building internal expertise in cutting-edge protein engineering techniques and guiding prioritization for internal protein generation efforts. The company also has a practice of offering H1B sponsorships, indicating an openness to attracting international talent. Manifold Bio maintains a positive and collaborative work environment in its Boston offices, dedicated to attracting top talent and inspiring innovation.

7. Social Media Presence and Engagement

Digital Footprint

Manifold Bio maintains an active presence on professional networking platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter/X.

Social Media Activity: The company utilizes these channels to announce strategic collaborations, expand its leadership team, and highlight advancements in its AI + in vivo targeted biologics platform.

Brand Messaging: Key messaging consistently emphasizes unlocking the full potential of AI-guided drug design through experimental throughput in living systems, focusing on the ability to combine AI-guided protein design with direct in vivo measurement.

Community Engagement: They promote content related to scientific advancements and their drug discovery engine, showcasing thought leadership in the protein engineering and AI-driven drug discovery space.

8. Competitive Analysis

Major Competitors

Manifold Bio operates within a dynamic and innovative biotechnology landscape focused on protein engineering and AI-driven drug discovery. Key competitors include:

Aprogen

Prosetta

AC Immune

Oakwood Labs

Alloy Therapeutics

Precede

Domainex

Cyclica

Terray Therapeutics

BenevolentAI

These companies often specialize in areas such as biologics platforms, biopharmaceutical development, or AI-enabled life sciences research, contributing to a competitive and evolving market.

9. Market Analysis

Market Overview

The global protein engineering market is a robust and rapidly expanding sector.

Market Size: Valued at approximately USD 3.02 billion in 2024.

Growth Potential: Projected to reach between USD 10.12 billion and USD 13.84 billion by 2032 to 2034, demonstrating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.8% to 16.3%.

Growth Drivers: This significant growth is fueled by increasing demand for protein therapeutics, personalized medicine, targeted therapies for chronic and genetic diseases, and continuous advancements in biotechnology and drug development.

Key Market Segments:

The biopharmaceutical sector accounts for over half of the global demand, driven by substantial investment in precision medicine and biologics development.