A New Challenge for a Leader in Cancer Immunotherapy

Synthetic Design Lab (SDL), a Silicon Valley-based innovative biotech startup, has officially launched, led by Dr. Daniel S. Chen. Dr. Chen, the company's co-founder, previously served as Vice President & Global Head of Cancer Immunotherapy at Roche's subsidiary, Genentech, for 12 years, spearheading the development of groundbreaking cancer immunotherapies such as Atezolizumab. Leveraging his extensive experience in cancer immunology and protein engineering, he is now tackling the fundamental limitations of existing Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). The company aims to build a next-generation therapeutic platform that integrates multi-antigen targeting and molecular computational logic circuits to overcome the heterogeneity and evolution of tumor cells, a goal that has captured the industry's attention.

'SYNTHBODY' Platform with Triple Antigen Targeting

The core technology of Synthetic Design Lab, the SYNTHBODY platform, aims to create 'smart drugs' that precisely recognize and respond to the complex immune microenvironment of tumor cells. The lead pipeline, SDF-061390E, which was first presented at the AACR 2026 Annual Meeting, targets multiple myeloma, a difficult-to-treat hematological cancer. It is designed to precisely bind to three different antigens on the surface of cancer cells: BCMA, GPRC5D, and CD38. Conventional single-antigen targeted therapies suffer from the critical drawback of antigen escape, where cancer cells reduce the expression of specific target antigens over time, leading to resistance. However, the SYNTHBODY platform utilizes logic gate design to detect and bind to multiple antigens based on their geometric distribution within the tumor microenvironment. This allows it to precisely target even early-stage tumor cells with low target expression or highly heterogeneous variant cancer cells, maximizing therapeutic efficacy.

Demonstrates Overwhelming Efficacy Compared to Existing Standard Treatments

The preclinical data for SDF-061390E, presented at the AACR 2026, surprised industry experts. In a head-to-head comparison with Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin), a BCMA-targeted ADC from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that is currently being reviewed for approval or is already approved for clinical use, SDF-061390E demonstrated a significant performance advantage. Specifically, in human multiple myeloma cell experiments, it showed more than 30 times faster internalization rate compared to Blenrep. In in vivo efficacy evaluations based on in vitro and mouse models, it exhibited more than 80 times higher potency. Furthermore, it completely overcame the drug neutralization resistance mechanism caused by soluble BCMA, which has been a major obstacle for existing BCMA-targeted therapies. This suggests that it has the potential to provide a near-curative new option for patients with relapsed or refractory disease who have developed resistance to existing standard treatments, addressing a significant unmet medical need.

Seed Investment and Market Entry Roadmap

Synthetic Design Lab successfully raised a total of $20 million in a seed financing round, with participation from Playground Global and Godfrey Capital, simultaneously with its official launch. These funds will be primarily invested in accelerating the completion of non-clinical toxicology studies and obtaining Investigational New Drug (IND) approval for its lead pipeline, SDF-061390E. Given that the global multiple myeloma market is a large and rapidly growing market, with an annual value of approximately $29.4 billion in 2026 and an annual growth rate of 9.1%, the impressive preclinical data demonstrated by this startup is highly encouraging. Because it has demonstrated the technical integrity of its innovative triple-target platform from an early stage, it is expected that it will be a strong candidate for large-scale technology export and co-development partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies or early-stage M&A opportunities after entering Phase 1 clinical trials.