BigHat Biosciences

BigHat was founded in late 2019 and began working at the MBC BioLabs incubator in San Carlos, California.⁠[1]

On February 10, BigHat announced a $19 million Series A led by Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry, with participation from 8VC, AME Cloud Ventures and Innovation Endeavors. Vineeta AgarwalaVineeta AgarwalaVineeta Agarwala is a physician-turned-venture investor and a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).Open the full entry joined its board. Funding supported hiring, platform development and the company’s internal therapeutic pipeline.⁠[2]

The company announced a move to approximately 15,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in San Mateo. Modular laboratories, robotics and an integrated laboratory information system supported plans to expand weekly antibody design and testing.⁠[1]

On March 28, BigHat announced its acquisition of Frugi Biotechnology on undisclosed terms. Frugi’s cell-free protein synthesis technology was incorporated to secure a key reagent supply and scale antibody production. Co-founder Adam Carr joined BigHat to continue developing and integrating the technology.⁠[3]

On July 20, BigHat announced a $75 million Series B led by Section 32, with new investors including Amgen Ventures and Bristol Myers SquibbBristol Myers SquibbBristol Myers Squibb is a US multinational biopharmaceutical company researching, developing and supplying medicines. Its activities span oncology, hematology and neuroscience, with products and technology platforms developed through internal research, partnerships and acquisitions.Open the full entry. That announcement put cumulative financing at $100 million and outlined investment in the Milliner platform and internal antibody programs. These figures reflect the original announcement.⁠[4]

An October 30 announcement described a target-specific license from Lonza’s Synaffix covering GlycoConnect, HydraSpace and toxSYN technologies. The collaboration combined BigHat-designed antibodies with conjugation and payload technologies, alongside development and manufacturing support for progression toward clinical trials.⁠[5]

Co-founder Peyton Greenside announced her appointment as CEO, with founding CEO Mark DePristo continuing as an adviser. Her stated priorities included advancing internal programs into clinical trials, expanding pharmaceutical partnerships and adding clinical-development expertise.⁠[6]

BigHat and Lilly announced collaboration on up to two antibody therapeutic programs, together with a planned Lilly equity investment. Lilly Catalyze360 also supported BigHat’s gastrointestinal-cancer ADC, while BigHat retained global rights and control of that program. Financial amounts were not disclosed.⁠[7]

Reccy Antibody Design Studio (RADS) brought models, datasets and experimental results into a shared workflow. Connected to Milliner and the Reccy data-management system, it updates and benchmarks models while tracking predicted sequence properties and project outcomes, feeding experimental evidence into subsequent design decisions.⁠[8]

The company announced completion of a strategic collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, legally Janssen Biotech. The work combined machine learning and automated experimentation to design challenging antibodies, with multiple novel sequences intended for further neuroscience development. The announcement reported research progress, without approved products or patient efficacy results.⁠[9]

The relationship expanded to Lilly TuneLab, with BigHat generating diverse, consistent antibody datasets for developability models. This work addresses properties relevant to manufacturing, storage and subsequent development. It is a data and modeling collaboration distinct from the earlier therapeutic-antibody programs.⁠[10]

BigHat described in-house manufacturing of cell-free synthesis reagents, with bacterial extract processed and robotically dispensed into single-use plates. Barcodes connect each plate to its batch, which undergoes quality validation before release. The company reported that this infrastructure supports overnight antibody expression and repeated high-throughput experiments.⁠[11]

Reccy connects molecular design, laboratory execution and results. It converts designs into machine-readable instructions and links sample barcodes, reagent batches and instrument outputs. BigHat emphasizes data attribution and traceability as requirements for rapid iteration, with experimental findings informing the next design cycle.⁠[12]

BigHat reported completion of three Merck projects and an undisclosed milestone payment. Work covered different antibody modalities and areas including oncology and immunology. Merck continued evaluating the sequences, with further payments contingent on progress. Merck Global Health Innovation Fund was also identified as an investor.⁠[13]

The Phase 1 trial of BHB810 dosed its first patient. The CDH17-directed ADC is being evaluated for safety, tolerability and preliminary activity in advanced gastrointestinal cancers; clinical efficacy remains unestablished. Human trials of BHB299 were planned for 2027.⁠[14]

BigHat announced a $75 million Series C co-led by DFJ Growth and Premji InvestPremji InvestPremji Invest is an investment firm established by Azim Premji in 2006, operating across private and public markets in India and the United States, with investment returns primarily supporting the philanthropic work of the Azim Premji Foundation. Its investment areas include technology, financial services, consumer, healthcare and industrials.Open the full entry, reporting $223 million raised overall. Its retrospective listed the 2022 Series B as $80 million, differing from the original announcement without further explanation.⁠[15]

BigHat reported characterizing over 2,500 VHHs across six rounds for Lilly’s NanoLab model, covering yield, purity and thermal properties. Failed-expression and ambiguous measurements were flagged rather than discarded, preserving negative data for model training.⁠[16]

BigHat reported synthesizing and testing 1,232 antibodies over seven rounds in ten weeks with AnthropicAnthropicAnthropic is an artificial intelligence research and product company founded in 2021 that develops the Claude models, assistant, and tools such as Claude Code, and operates as a public benefit corporation. Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei are its co-founders, and its research covers model safety, interpretability, and steerability.Open the full entry. A researcher and Claude accessed the laboratory platform through MCP, improving binding and stability in some variants. The antibody-optimization pilot did not establish clinical efficacy of a medicine.⁠[17]