We're revolutionizing cell therapy with protein design.

Our Mission

With better biology, we will cure solid tumors.

Our Approach

We pioneered the design of new biological function. Now we’re building a future where all cell therapies are effective and safe.

Biology is a barrier to cancer treatment

Today, only a tiny fraction of cancers can be cured. This is because cancer is a complex biological system, and our bodies have learned to make the wrong decisions as they fight. Our immune system evolved to beat back infections, not our own cells. Even the most advanced cancer treatments fail to address this.

Rather than one gene or one protein solutions that reuse existing biomolecules, we need to create better biology that can address the multiple mechanisms that stand in the way of curing tumors.

What is protein design?

Proteins are the biological unit of function. Creating new ones will transform medicine.

Natural proteins represent only a sliver of the potential biological universe. By designing new protein functions, we can guide cells to recognize and eliminate cancer in the body. Our co-founders pioneered a new era in protein design, shifting from designing structures to new biological functions.

Why build cell therapies?

We know that cell therapies have the potential to cure cancer, but less than ~5% of cancer burden can be addressed with existing technology.

To cure solid tumors, multiple problems must be solved simultaneously: 1) the tumor suppresses our immune response, 2) the cell therapy does not persist, and 3) the cell therapy has limited potency, safety, and specificity.

By programming cells to make the right decisions inside patients, Outpace’s technologies stimulate productive immune responses in the tumor microenvironment (OUTSMART™), enable potent and persistent cell therapy activity (OUTLAST™), and maximize the potency (OUTSPACERS™), safety (OUTSAFE™) and specificity (CO-LOCKR™) of cell therapies across diverse cancer indications.

We program cells to make the right decisions

Our Science

We use AI-powered protein design to create proteins that program engineered cells for improved function inside patients.

We combine them to develop cell therapy products with curative potential.

Our platform technologies can power any cell type and manufacturing approach.

OUTSPACER™ optimized CAR

Maximize Potency, Specificity, & Safety

The Problem: Optimal immunologic synapse geometry is crucial for cell therapy potency.

Our Solution: OUTSPACER™ library consists of fully human sequences that maximize CAR T cell function, leading to more potent killing of cancer cells.

OUTSMART™ designed cytokine

Enhanced Communication to Stimulate Immune Response

The Problem: Solid tumors produce the wrong cytokines, blunting the activity of immune cells.

Our Solution: Cell therapy with OUTSMART™ cytokines can stimulate immune cells in the tumor, boosting efficacy and safety by enabling a productive immune response.

OUTLAST™ T cell persistence

Better Decisions Inside Patients Enhance Cell Therapy Persistence

The Problem:
Immune cells naturally turn off when fighting cancer.

Our Solution: OUTLAST™ technology reprograms cell therapies to make better decisions inside patients with the goal of achieving a durable clinical response.

OUTSAFE™ safety switch

Maximize Potency, Specificity, & Safety

The Problem: Powerful cell therapies require advanced safety features.

Our Solution: EGFRoptTM is a fully human safety switch that responds to cetuximab and can also be used for cell selection and QC during ex vivo manufacturing.

Co-LOCKRTM logic gated targeting

Maximize Potency, Specificity, & Safety

The Problem: Cancer cells look like healthy cells in many ways, making them difficult to target.

Our Solution: Cell therapies with Co-LOCKRTM technology can recognize the unique protein fingerprints on the surface of cancer cells, making it possible to safely treat many types of cancers.

Our Approach

We pioneered the design of new biological function. Now we’re building the future in which all cell therapies are effective and safe.

Biology is a barrier to cancer treatment

Today, only a tiny fraction of cancers can be cured. This is because cancer is a complex biological system, and our bodies have learned to make the wrong decisions as they fight. Our immune system evolved to beat back infections, not our own cells. Even the most advanced cancer treatments fail to address this.

Rather than one gene or one protein solutions that reuse existing biomolecules, we need to create better biology that can address the multiple mechanisms that stand in the way of curing tumors.

What is protein design?

Proteins are the biological unit of function. Creating new ones will transform medicine.

Natural proteins represent only a sliver of the potential biological universe. By designing new protein functions, we can guide cells to recognize and eliminate cancer in the body. Our co-founders pioneered a new era in protein design, shifting from designing structures to new biological functions.

Why build cell therapies?

We know that cell therapies have the potential to cure cancer. By programming cells to make the right decisions inside patients, Outpace’s technologies enable potent and persistent cell therapy activity (OutLast™), recruit productive immune responses in the tumor microenvironment (OutSmart™), and drive the specificity and safety of cell therapies across diverse cancer indications.

We’re building a future in which all cell therapies are effective and safe.

SWIPE

We program cells to make the right decisions

Our Science

We create technologies to dramatically improve the efficacy & safety of cell therapies and combine them to develop best-in-class cell therapy products. Our platform technologies can power any cell type and manufacturing approach.

OUTSPACERTM optimized CAR

Maximize Potency, Specificity, & Safety

The Problem: Optimal immunologic synapse geometry is crucial for cell therapy potency.

Our Solution: The OUTSPACERTM library consists of fully human sequences that maximize CAR T cell function, leading to more potent killing of cancer cells.

OUTSMART™ designed cytokine

Enhanced Communication to Stimulate Immune Response

The Problem: Solid tumors produce the wrong cytokines, blunting the activity of immune cells.

Our Solution: Cell therapies with OUTSMART™ cytokines can stimulate immune cells in the tumor, boosting efficacy and safety by enabling a productive immune response.

OUTLAST™ T cell persistence

Better Decisions Inside Patients Enhance Cell Therapy Persistence

The Problem: Immune cells naturally turn off when fighting cancer.

Our Solution: OUTLAST™ technology reprograms cell therapies to make better decisions inside patients with the goal of achieving a durable clinical response.

OUTSAFE™ safety switch

Maximize Potency, Specificity & Safety

The Problem: Powerful cell therapies require advanced safety features.

Our Solution: EGFRopt is a fully human safety switch that responds to cetuximab and can also be used for cell selection and QC during ex vivo manufacturing.

CO-LOCKR™ logic gated targeting

Maximize Potency, Specificity & Safety

The Problem: Cancer cells look like healthy cells in many ways, making them difficult to target.

Our Solution: Cell therapies with CO-LOCKR™ technology can recognize the unique protein fingerprints on the surface of cancer cells, making it possible to safely treat many types of cancers.

Biology and technology. Seamlessly integrated.

Computational & Structural Biology

Synthetic Biology & Rapid Prototyping

Cell Programming

Translational Immunology

Protein design
Biostatistics
Next gen sequencing analysis

>100,000 hours of protein design experience

Cloning
Protein production
Lenti production
Automation

>10,000 constructs tested

Regulated promoters
Controlled cytokines
Autonomous protein regulators

Expansive parts library & stackable assets that solve barriers to efficacy & safety

Robust in-house translational models
Deep disease area expertise

IND engine for engineered
cell therapies

Computational &
Structural Biology

Protein design
Biostatistics
Next gen sequencing analysis

>100,000 hours of protein design experience

Synthetic Biology
Foundry

Cloning
Protein production
Lenti production
Automation

>10,000 constructs tested

Cell Programming

Regulated Promoters
Controlled Cytokines
Autonomous Protein Regulators

Expansive parts library & stackable assets that solve barriers to efficacy & safety

Translational
& Immunology

IND engine for engineered
cell therapies

Robust in-house translational models and expertise