About us

Empowering new therapeutics with advanced antibody discovery technologies

At AbTherx, we are redefining therapeutic antibody discovery. We are driven by our passion for creating best-in-class therapeutics by advancing reliable, scalable transgenic technologies grounded in rigorous science.

Our Atlas™ Mouse platform is built on two decades of experience and utilizes evolutionary intelligence to identify diverse and developable human antibody sequences. We enable the discovery and development of monoclonal and bispecific antibodies against diverse targets, including GPCRs and ion channels, unlocking previously inaccessible therapeutic opportunities and providing drug developers with powerful new technologies.

Beyond engineering Atlas Mice for unmatched performance, we offer flexible partnership models—from standard licensing terms to milestone- and royalty-free structures—tailored to the needs of drug developers. Whether you’re a biotech startup or a global pharmaceutical leader, AbTherx provides the technologies and collaborative expertise to drive innovation.

Discovery Platform

Transforming Antibody Discovery

Transgenic mice have powered the largest number of successful antibodies to clinic among human platforms, but innovation in transgenic technologies has not kept pace with the increasingly complex needs of buried epitopes, complex targets, or multispecific modalities. AbTherx has built the industry’s most comprehensive toolbox of transgenic technologies for antibody discovery and is continuing to drive evolution of transgenic platforms to address industry needs and create tomorrow’s medicines.

mAbs Targeting Buried Epitopes, GPCRs, and Ion Channels

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Hard targets need hard-hitting technology. Our patent-pending Atlas Long CDR3 Mice generate fully human antibodies with long CDR3 regions to unlock access to buried epitopes within GPCRs, ion channels, and other challenging targets. Our innovative platform takes advantage of a rare but naturally -occurring human mechanism whereby two D segments (i.e., a “D-D fusion”) recombine to create a final VD(D)J recombination product. This extra sequence information serves to lengthen the CDRH3 portion of the resultant antibody. 

We have harnessed this behavior via a unique transgene configuration to generate fully human antibodies with long CDR3 regions. Being fully human, these minimize developability and immunogenicity risks inherent in long CDR3 antibodies from other species, e.g., bovine and camelids. Our Long CDR3 platform, coupled with our proprietary AI-based immunogen design and expression, can identify and immunize against novel targets and epitopes that may have been buried or otherwise less accessible to traditional humanized models.

Premier Multispecifics

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Our innovative, patent-pending Atlas Binary Fixed Light Chain (BFLC) Mice empower our partners to create native-structure bispecific IgGs that facilitate manufacturability and developability, achieve best-in-class hit rates, and advance programs confidently under a strong freedom-to-operate position. This is accomplished by engineering the transgenic mice to include two fixed light chain options, on a background of full human diversity for the heavy chain. The fixed light chains were chosen for their overlapping but distinct abilities to pair with multiple heavy chain families and their high prevalence in human B cell populations. In individual B cells where an either/or selection of the two light chains is made, this model allows for a more natural selection pathway where the best heavy-light chain pairing and binding solutions are achieved. We have BFLC mice with two kappa light chains, as well as our newly launched model featuring two lambda light chains.

This model thus improves upon legacy fixed light chain models by providing a larger repertoire, and the native structure makes downstream expression and engineering steps correspondingly straightforward. Importantly, our technology is supported by an agile business model, offering access through milestone- and royalty-free agreements as well as standard licensing options.

We recently launched our human Atlas VHH Transgenic Mice and are advancing a pipeline of next‑generation models. Built upon a foundation of wildtype and modified scaffolds, these models are designed to deliver superior developability and broader sequence diversity. By pairing this architecture with our proprietary Full Human Diversity and Long CDR3 technologies, the platform will deliver fully human single-domain antibodies in two configurations, standard and long CDR3s, providing optimized single-domain antibody building blocks for advanced multispecifics, cell therapies, and other complex modalities.

Efficient mAb Discovery

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Our patent-pending Atlas Full Human Diversity Mice enable our partners to achieve greater success with higher hit rates, greater sequence diversity, improved binding profiles, and enhanced hybridoma stability compared to other top transgenics. Access this industry-leading in vivo discovery platform through Mosaic Biosciences, our preferred service partner. We offer flexible business terms—from milestone- and-royalty free structures to shared risk models where you pay upon success—designed to meet the needs of innovators at every stage. 

The Atlas Full Human Diversity Mouse is engineered to capture a broad, human-like antibody response by sourcing VH and VK alleles that represent >99% of the expressed human repertoire, and boosting productive B-cell rearrangements by use of only functional VH and VK components, excluding pseudogenes and other non-productive alleles. The transgenes were carefully curated to avoid patented alleles and rare/ethnic variants that could elevate immunogenicity or IP risk, creating a next-generation platform that improves upon the functional and freedom-to-operate limitations of other models

Partnering for Success

Industry-Validated, Proprietary Platform

More than two dozen partners have leveraged Atlas Mice to generate high‑quality human antibodies across 75+ discovery programs. This work has now translated into clinical impact, with the first Atlas Mouse‑derived therapeutic entering Phase 1 development in Q1 2026.

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Fit-for-Partner Business Model

We build durable collaborations rooted in a deep understanding of our partners’ goals to create long-term value for both parties. Our flexible business terms—from milestone- and royalty-free structures to pay-upon-success models—are designed to meet you where you are today and scale with you as your needs evolve.

Flexible Platform Access

Breakthrough science demands more than a technology fit. We structure each partnership to align with your scientific priorities, operational model, and business goals.

  • Platform licensing: Deploy our next‑generation antibody discovery technologies at your site or through a designated service provider.
  • Co‑discovery: Combine our complementary expertise and differentiated platforms to unlock therapeutics for multispecifics, GPCRs, and other challenging targets.

Proven Expertise

Our team has been at the forefront of developing and deploying many of the industry’s most impactful transgenic human antibody discovery platforms, including those at Medarex, Ablexis / AlivaMab Biologics, and Alloy Therapeutics. This collective expertise has powered more than 1,500 successful antibody discovery campaigns and contributed to at least 13 marketed therapeutics.

Contact us to explore how AbTherx can power your next antibody discovery program.

Team

Leadership

Our team has led the development and implementation of the most successful in vivo human antibody discovery platform at Medarex and BMS. Beyond this, our team’s combined experience includes leading in vivo discovery at Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Ablexis / AlivaMab Biologics, and Alloy Therapeutics. These efforts have led to over 1,500 successful antibody discovery campaigns and 13 marketed therapeutics.

Peter-Brams
Chief Scientific Officer

Peter Brams, PhD

Experience:

VP, Antibody Discovery, Zai Lab
Senior Director, Antibody Center of Excellence, Bristol Myers Squibb
Director, Antibody Discovery, Medarex
Senior Scientist, Biogen Idec

Peter is the Chief Scientific Officer of AbTherx. He has spent his career focused on the generation of clinical-grade human antibodies, e.g., Opdivo (anti-PD1), Ofatumumab (anti-CD20), Ulocuplomab (anti-CXCR4), and  anti-CCR8 antibodies in clinical trials1 for BMS and Zai Lab. Peter grew the antibody-generating unit at Medarex from seven people using hybridoma and only manual protocols, to a multi-site, multidisciplinary, highly automated unit, supplying all antibodies to meet the needs of the entire Bristol Myers Squibb corporation. Peter was involved at all levels of the pursuit, adding novel conceptual approaches to antigen design, automation strategies, immunization developments, and electrofusion protocols, as well as single cell antibody cloning and antibody gene analysis. He has authored over 100 submitted and approved patents.

Peter has worked with some of the most disruptive thinkers in the field: Lennard Olson (first human human hybridoma), Robert Gallo (advanced HIV research on all fronts), Ivor Royston (human antibody pioneer), Nabil Hannah (identified CD20 as clinical antibody target: Rituximab was the first curative anti-cancer antibody), Nils Lonberg (generated the HuMAb Mouse® platform at Medarex), and Alan Korman (moved immuno-oncology from lab bench to bedside).  

Peter received his PhD from the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

1Campbell JR et al, Cancer Res 2021;81:2983–94. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3585

Dan-Rohrer
Chief Technology Officer

Dan Rohrer, PhD

Experience:

Senior Director, Zai Lab
Senior Director, Bristol Myers Squib
Member, Biotech Industry Advisory Council, Cal Poly SLO
Senior Director, Medarex
Senior Scientist, Chiron Corp.
Board Member, Aldar Academy
Scientist, Roche Bioscience
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University

Dan is the Chief Technology Officer of AbTherx. He has over 25 years of broad experience in therapeutic drug discovery. Over the last 20 years, Dan and his scientific teams have specialized in creating therapeutic antibody discovery platforms in transgenic mice, including managing and refining the HuMAb Mouse® platform – the most successful platform based on the number of FDA approvals to date. Updating this technology to meet new antibody therapeutic modality needs has resulted in the creation of the novel and differentiated Atlas™ Mice antibody platform which is poised to address the evolving antibody therapeutics market. Dan has an established background and publication record in transgenic methodologies and G-protein coupled receptors, and he is recognized throughout the industry for his leadership of therapeutic discovery campaigns.

Catherine-Kara
Head of IP

Catherine Kara, PhD, JD

Experience:

Independent IP Consultant, Kara Patents
Chief Patent Counsel, Medarex, Inc. 
Associate, Lahive & Cockfield, LLP

Catherine is the Head of IP at AbTherx. She has over 25 years of experience in strategic and supervisory roles for intellectual property management in both law firm and in-house positions, including over 15 years providing IP consultancy in a wide range of biotechnology fields. Her technical background is in immunology, and she has been involved in the development of IP protection for immunotherapeutic approaches from the earliest fully human antibodies. She has extensive expertise in patent portfolio development and prosecution, IP considerations for early-stage companies, and strategic IP advice in the immunotherapy space. 

 Catherine received a PhD from Harvard University, a JD from Suffolk University Law School, and a BSc from McGill University. 

john-lippincott
Chief Strategy Officer

John “Lippy” Lippincott, Ph.D.

Experience:

Senior Vice President Therapeutic Discovery Strategies, Alloy Therapeutics
Senior Vice President of Therapeutic Discovery Strategies, AlivaMab Discovery Services
Director of Research Operations, Ablexis LLC
Vice President of Antibody Discovery, LakePharma
Director of Antibody Discovery, Igenica
Senior Principal Scientist, Pfizer
Post-Doctoral Associate, GNF (Novartis)

Lippy is the Chief Strategy Officer at AbTherx. He is a recognized leader in therapeutic antibody discovery with more than two decades of experience advancing antibody generation and characterization from in vivo systems. Throughout his career, he has built and led high-performing discovery organizations focused on the identification and advancement of therapeutic antibody candidates across a broad range of modalities and disease areas.

Most recently, Lippy served as the Senior Vice President of Therapeutic Discovery Strategies at Alloy Therapeutics, where he lead their transgenic antibody discovery strategy and partner programs. Prior to Alloy, he held senior scientific leadership roles at AlivaMab Discovery Services and LakePharma, where he built and led teams responsible for delivering high-quality therapeutic antibody discovery programs using in vivo transgenic platforms. Earlier in his career, Lippy established and led the hybridoma group at Pfizer’s San Diego site, serving as project leader for both internal and partnered therapeutic discovery efforts. At Igenica, he spearheaded the successful implementation of a novel in vivo discovery platform and developed high-throughput systems for hybridoma generation, screening, and lead candidate identification.

Over the course of his career, Lippy has always been at the forefront of building and implementing next-generation transgenic antibody discovery technologies and deploying operational strategies that improve the speed, quality, and scalability of therapeutic antibody generation. His experience spans multiple leading platforms, platform implementation, antibody characterization, hybridoma technologies, and translational discovery, making him a highly sought-after scientific leader in the field.

Lippy received his PhD in Cell Biology from Harvard Medical School and completed postdoctoral research at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego.

andra-li
Senior Director of Alliance and Project Management

Andra Li, Ph.D.

Experience:

Scientific Director, MindWalk Corp (formerly ImmunoPrecise Antibodies)
Lab Instructor, University of Victoria

Andra Li is Senior Director of Alliance and Project Management at AbTherx, bringing more than a decade of experience in therapeutic antibody discovery, scientific leadership, and cross-functional program execution. At AbTherx, she oversees alliance and project management, driving stakeholder alignment and collaboration across internal teams and external partners to advance differentiated therapeutic antibody programs.

Prior to joining AbTherx, Andra held multiple scientific and operational leadership roles at ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (now MindWalk Corp.), ultimately serving as Scientific Director, where she led antibody discovery and engineering teams and helped drive innovation across research, business development, and operations. Andra led initiatives in next-generation platform and service development, process optimization, and continuous improvement to enhance the speed, quality, and scalability of therapeutic antibody discovery. She also played an active role in scientific business development, supporting partner collaborations through conference engagement, scientific presentations, client interactions, and cross-functional program leadership.

Andra received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Victoria, where her research focused on epigenetics and chromatin structure in DNA repair.

viktoriya-dubrovskaya
Sr. Director of Antibody Discovery

Viktoriya Dubrovskaya, PhD

Experience:

Associate Director, Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a Sanofi Company
Principal Scientist, Zai Lab
Specialist, OHSU Knight Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center
Staff Scientist, The Scripps Research Institute

Viktoriya is the Senior Director of Antibody Discovery at AbTherx. She is an innovative scientist with an extensive background in antibody discovery, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, vaccine design, and preclinical drug development. In her most recent role at Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Viktoriya served as the Associate Director of the Discovery Group where she led the preclinical program for conditionally activated T-cell engagers. Viktoriya’s skillset includes protein engineering, phage display, single B-cell cloning, antigen generation (including GPCRs), T-cell engager optimization, and NGS sequencing.

Viktoriya received her PhD from the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia and her MS from Novosibirsk State University in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Chief Executive Officer

Justin Mika, MBA, MS

Experience:

Entrepreneur In Residence, University Health Network
Board Member, PhenoVista
CEO, AlivaMab Discovery Services
SVP, Eurofins
SVP and Chief Commercial Lead, DiscoverX (acquired by Eurofins)

Justin is the Chief Executive Officer of AbTherx. He has served in executive and advisory roles in biotechnology, drug discovery platform, and healthcare investment organizations for over 15 years. His most recent position was CEO of AlivaMab Discovery Services (ADS), where he led the organization through a period of rapid growth. Before ADS, Justin was the Senior Vice President of the Eurofins Drug Discovery division, where his scope included leading strategy across nine global sites, innovation, and M&A. Before Eurofins, Justin led the Drug Discovery Service division of DiscoverX, including the acquisitions of Ambit Bioscience’s KINOMEscan platform and Asterand’s BioSeek platform. In 2017, DiscoverX was acquired by Eurofins.

Justin received his MBA and MS from the University of Delaware and his BSc from Penn State University.

Brian-Conn
Chief Financial Officer

Brian Conn

 Experience:

CFO, Ra Medical Systems (NYSE:RMED)
CFO, Switchback Systems
CFO, Quantapore, Inc.
CFO, Imagion BioSystems (ASX:IBX)
Co-founder and CFO, Pyrone Systems
CFO, Verdezyne
Board Member, Biosensis

Brian Conn is the Chief Financial Officer of AbTherx. He has over 20 years of experience as the CFO of numerous public and private biotech companies, spanning all areas of life sciences. During his career, Brian has raised over $300 million in capital and completed more than 20 M&A deals. Brian is an advisor/CFO to several early-stage biotech companies and is a co-founder of the synthetic biology startup, Pyrone Systems. Before AbTherx, Brian completed the merger between Ra Medical Systems (NYSE: RMED) and Catheter Precision. In 2017, he successfully listed Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX) on the Australian Stock Exchange and helped organize the company’s first clinical trial, which was completed in 2022. From 2011 to 2016, Brian was the CFO of Verdezyne, a San Diego synthetic biology company where he secured funding and negotiated contracts for a large-scale project in Malaysia.

Chief Business Officer

Abhishek Saharia, PhD

Experience:

Senior Director BD, Ginkgo Bioworks
VP Strategic Partnerships, Synthego
Director of Product Management and Marketing, DiscoverX (acquired by Eurofins)
Senior Global Product Manager, Sigma Life Science (acquired by Millipore Sigma)

Abhi is the Chief Business Officer of AbTherx. He has been leading corporate strategy, business development, and alliance management functions to drive the adoption of novel technology platforms for over 15 years. His most recent position was Senior Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks, where he led the organization’s enterprise partnering strategy for the top 20 pharmaceutical companies. Before Ginkgo, Abhi was the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Synthego, where his scope included leading the end-to-end business development, enterprise sales and alliance management functions. Before Synthego, Abhi led the research and commercialization strategy behind the launch and rapid expansion of DiscoverX’s biologics portfolio.

Abhi received his PhD from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO and his BA from College of Wooster in Ohio.

Scientific Advisory Board

Our advisory board has deep expertise in developing antibody drugs and multispecifics for a wide range of challenging targets at Genmab, Regeneron, Stanford, and MIT.

janine-schuurman
Scientific Advisor

Janine Schuurman, PhD

Experience:

President, The Antibody Society
Advisor, Bioqube Ventures
Scientific Advisory Board member, Cartography Biosciences
Independent Biotech Consultant, Lust for Life Science B.V.
Senior Vice President, Genmab

Dr. Schuurman’s career centers around the antibody molecule as a biological source of inspiration and therapeutic modality. Dr. Schuurman joined Genmab’s R&D team in 2000 as one of the first scientists—her most recent position being Senior Vice President heading Genmab’s Antibody Research and Technologies. She is a co-inventor of many therapeutic antibodies and of the DuoBody®, HexaBody®, and HexElect® technologies, which enable the generation of bispecific and effector-function enhanced antibodies. These technologies are being applied to antibody therapeutic discovery programs at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide and have resulted in FDA-approved therapies such as RYBREVANT® (amivantamab), EPKINLY® (epcoritamab), TECVAYLY® (teclistamab), and TALVEY® (talquatamab). Dr. Schuurman has championed many successful academic and industry partnerships in antibody therapeutics and complementary research fields.

Dr. Schuurman joined The Antibody Society’s Board of Directors in 2020 and currently serves as President of this international, non-profit trade association which represents individuals and organizations involved in antibody-related research and development. Dr. Schuurman is frequently invited to serve as a speaker, as well as a chair, at scientific conferences around the world due to her vision, impactful scientific publication track record, and dynamic presentations. She received her PhD in immunology from the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Schuurman is currently an independent biotech consultant (Lust for Life Science B.V.) and collaborates with many organizations, including Bioqube Ventures and Cartography Biosciences.

jessica-stark
Scientific Advisor

Jessica Stark, PhD

Experience:

Assistant Professor and Underwood Prescott Career Development Chair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-founder, BioBits®
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
PhD, Northwestern University

Dr. Stark’s career is marked by her pioneering work in developing biological technologies to unlock the vast potential of cell-surface sugars, known as glycans, for immunological discovery and immunotherapy. Glycans form a protective layer on the surface of every cell, influencing immunological processes. Despite their significance, drug developers’ ability to identify the specific glycans that regulate immune responses and design targeted therapies remains limited. Dr. Stark’s lab is at the forefront of efforts to comprehend and manipulate the roles of glycans in the immune system, aiming to 1) bridge crucial gaps in immunobiology and 2) forge the path for next-generation immunotherapies.

As a postdoctoral fellow with Nobel Laureate, Professor Carolyn Bertozzi at Stanford University, Jessica’s work focused on identifying and targeting glycans. She is a co-inventor of antibody-lectin chimeras (AbLecs), a modular platform for glyco-immune checkpoint blockade. She received her PhD in chemical and biological engineering with Professor Michael Jewett at Northwestern University. Dr. Stark is currently an Assistant Professor in the departments of Biological and Chemical Engineering at MIT and an intramural faculty member in MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

gavin-thurston
Scientific Advisor

Gavin Thurston, PhD

Experience:

SVP Oncology Research, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Gavin is a Scientific Advisor at AbTherx. He spent the last 22 years of his career at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, his most recent position being SVP of Oncology Research. Gavin has authored over 150 publications and is the inventor on over 50 US patents and ongoing patent applications. His efforts at Regeneron led to the successful clinical development of LIBTAYO® and ongoing late-stage clinical testing of several other antibodies and bispecific antibodies. In addition to his advisory role at AbTherx, Gavin is also doing consulting work on several other antibody and bispecifc projects. 

Gavin earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in biophysics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and a postdoctoral research fellowship in tumor vasculature at CRC Gray Laboratory, London, England.

News

May 11, 2026

First Antibody Derived from AbTherx Platform Advances into Clinical Development

Achieving clinical validation in under three years underscores the efficiency of AbTherx’s platform Mountain View, Calif. – May 11, 2026 – AbTherx, Inc., a privately ... Read More »

January 8, 2026

AbTherx and Red Queen Bio Partner on Therapeutic Antibody Discovery

Partnership has already generated high-quality, AI-ready data in less than three months Mountain View, Calif. – January 8, 2026 – AbTherx today announced a therapeuti... Read More »

September 23, 2025

AbTherx and Dragonfly Therapeutics Expand Antibody Discovery Partnership

Expansion comes after multi-target evaluation with Atlas™ Full Human Diversity Mice demonstrated superior performance in head-to-head study Mountain View, Calif. – Se... Read More »

June 16, 2025

AbTherx and GPCR Therapeutics Announce a Strategic Collaboration to Discover...

Partnership combines AbTherx’s proprietary Atlas™ Long CDR3 Technology with GPCR Therapeutics’ deep expertise in GPCR biology to discover and develop antibodies for n... Read More »

June 10, 2025

AbTherx and Wield Therapeutics Partner to Advance New Antibody Therapies

AbTherx’s highly efficient research planning and partnering process enabled Wield, an early-stage startup, to achieve concept-to-collaboration within weeks Mountain V... Read More »

View All News

Careers

Join Our Team!

At AbTherx, we are innovators and inventors committed to supporting your career and growth goals. We are a dynamic early-stage company seeking passionate, driven team members with experience in transgenic technologies, in vivo antibody discovery, and antibody engineering to help us create new cures. If you are interested in helping build a transformative research company, please submit your resume to info@abtherx.com.

Contact

Join the Leaders in Next-gen Antibody Discovery

CONTACT
info@abtherx.com

319 N. Bernardo Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043

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