# Aizen Therapeutics

> Aizen Therapeutics is a San Diego, AI-driven biotech spun out of Caltech that designs Mirror Peptides - synthetic drugs built entirely from D-amino acids, the mirror image of the L-amino acids that make up natural proteins. Its DaX platform pairs generative AI with structural biology to design these molecules from scratch, aiming for drugs with the potency of biologics but greater stability, lower immunogenicity, and the potential to be taken orally. The company emerged from stealth in November 2024 with a $13M seed round.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** San Diego, California, United States
- **Founders:** Ajay Kshatriya (Co-Founder & CEO), David Van Valen (Scientific Founder (Caltech Professor), MD, PhD)
- **Team size:** ~15 employees
- **Products:** DaX (D-amino acid eXplorer), Mirror Peptides, Oral peptide therapeutics pipeline
- **Notable:** Emerged from stealth in November 2024 with a $13M seed round., Built DaX, described as a first-in-class computational design platform for full D-amino-acid peptides., Validated the DaX approach across multiple clinically relevant targets.

## Products & services

- **DaX (D-amino acid eXplorer)** — A first-in-class computational protein-design platform that integrates generative AI with structural biology data. DaX trains foundation models on receptor-ligand interaction physics and uses guided diffusion to design de novo, full D-amino-acid (and other non-canonical amino acid) peptides against clinically relevant targets.
- **Mirror Peptides** — Synthetic therapeutic peptides composed entirely of D-amino acids - the mirror image of natural L-amino-acid peptides. They are engineered for strong target affinity and specificity, enhanced stability against proteases, and reduced immunogenicity.
- **Oral peptide therapeutics pipeline** — An internal pipeline of drug candidates - including a focus on oral biologics for chronic immune disorders (e.g., cytokine inhibition) - designed on the DaX platform.

## Achievements

- Emerged from stealth in November 2024 with a $13M seed round.
- Built DaX, described as a first-in-class computational design platform for full D-amino-acid peptides.
- Validated the DaX approach across multiple clinically relevant targets.
- Advancing Mirror Peptides as a genuinely new drug class - full D-peptides previously considered practically unreachable for therapeutics.
- Spun a Caltech research model into a funded, San Diego-based company.

## Latest updates

- **2024-11** — Aizen Therapeutics emerged from stealth with $13M in seed financing led by Madrona, with Wilson Hill and Cercano, and announced Mirror Peptides as a new drug class powered by its DaX platform.
- **2025-06** — Listed as an exhibitor at the BIO International Convention 2025, signaling active partnering outreach.

## Links

- Website: https://www.aizentx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aizentherapeutics

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/aizen-therapeutics
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-07