Avenue Biosciences has raised $5.7 million in seed extension funding to scale a new protein engineering platform aimed at overcoming a key limitation in therapeutic protein manufacturing. The Palo Alto–based company is developing the first technology designed to systematically measure and modulate the protein secretory pathway, which plays a central role in the production of biologic medicines. By improving how proteins are folded, processed, and secreted by cells, the company aims to accelerate the delivery of advanced therapies to patients.
Funding and Investors
The funding round was co-led by Balnord and Tesi, with continued backing from Voima Ventures, Inventure, the University of Helsinki, and Dimerent. Following this round, Avenue Biosciences has raised a total of $8.7 million since its founding in 2024. The new capital will be used to expand the company’s high-throughput technology and support broader adoption within the biotechnology industry.
Scientific Origins and Company Vision
Avenue Biosciences is a transatlantic biotechnology company whose technology originates from years of academic research at the University of Helsinki, particularly in the Ville Paavilainen laboratory. The company combines experimental biology with machine learning to improve the manufacturability of protein-based therapeutics. Its stated mission is to ensure that promising therapies are not abandoned due to production constraints.
The Secretory Pathway Challenge
The protein secretory pathway is responsible for folding, modifying, and exporting therapeutic proteins, yet it remains one of the least optimized aspects of biologics manufacturing. Industry standards have long relied on a small and conservative set of signal peptides, limiting the ability to adapt to increasingly complex protein designs. Avenue’s platform challenges this approach by enabling systematic exploration of thousands of signal peptide variants.
Signal Peptides and High-Throughput Engineering
Signal peptides are short amino acid sequences that guide proteins through the secretory pathway and strongly influence production efficiency and quality. Avenue Biosciences uses libraries of naturally occurring and engineered signal peptides to generate thousands of versions of a single therapeutic protein. This high-throughput process identifies variants that exceed current benchmarks in yield and consistency while generating large, previously unavailable datasets.
Machine Learning and Predictive Capability
The data collected through this process feeds into machine learning models that predict optimal signal peptides for specific protein targets. By integrating wet-lab experimentation with artificial intelligence, the platform reduces trial-and-error and shortens development cycles. Investors view this combination as a critical tool for lowering the cost and complexity of biologics manufacturing.
Therapeutic Scope and Biosimilars
The technology is applicable across a wide range of protein-based therapies, including antibodies, vaccines, multispecific proteins, gene therapies, and AI-designed proteins. As biologics in oncology, immunology, and rare diseases become more complex, manufacturing challenges increasingly limit their feasibility. Because signal peptides are removed from the final protein product, the approach is also well suited to improving efficiency in biosimilar production without altering therapeutic targets.
With its latest funding, Avenue Biosciences is advancing a platform that addresses one of the most persistent bottlenecks in protein therapeutics. By unlocking the potential of the secretory pathway, the company aims to make complex biologics more scalable, affordable, and accessible. If widely adopted, this approach could help establish a new standard for therapeutic protein manufacturing worldwide.