# Cyrus Biotechnology

> Cyrus Biotechnology is a Seattle protein-engineering company that evolved from commercializing an accessible cloud version of Rosetta into developing its own preclinical biologic drugs. Its platform combines AI and physics-based modeling with deep mutational scanning and lab assays, while its lead program, CYR212, is an engineered IgG-cleaving enzyme intended for chronic autoimmune diseases.

- **Founded:** 2014
- **Headquarters:** Seattle, United States
- **Founders:** Lucas Nivon (Co-Founder and CEO), Yifan Song (Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer), Javier Castellanos (Co-Founder), David Baker (Scientific Co-Founder and Advisor)
- **Team size:** Approximately 16 employees in supplied company data; LinkedIn lists 11-50 employees
- **Products:** Cyrus Bench, Partnered protein engineering, CYR212 Next-Gen IdeS, ACE2.v2, Next-Gen IL-22
- **Notable:** Launched as the first company spinout announced by the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design., Sold Cyrus Bench to more than 120 pharmaceutical firms and worked on more than 30 partnered discovery programs, according to company materials., Raised an $18 million Series B and acquired Orthogonal Biologics in 2021 to integrate computational design with deep mutational scanning.

## Products & services

- **Cyrus Bench** — A cloud interface and enterprise implementation of Rosetta protein-modeling and design tools; sold to more than 120 pharmaceutical firms before the software group was spun out as Levitate Bio.
- **Partnered protein engineering** — Computational design, immunogenicity mitigation, stability optimization, affinity tuning and laboratory screening for biopharma partners; Cyrus reports more than 30 partnered discovery programs.
- **CYR212 Next-Gen IdeS** — A preclinical, engineered IgG protease designed for longer half-life, reduced immunogenicity and rapid IgG depletion in chronic autoimmune disease.
- **ACE2.v2** — An engineered, extended-half-life ACE2 receptor decoy now positioned for acute respiratory distress syndrome and partnering; earlier versions were studied against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- **Next-Gen IL-22** — A discovery-stage, binding-protein-resistant and half-life-extended cytokine program for tissue protection, gastrointestinal and metabolic applications.
- **Next-Gen IL-15** — A discovery-stage oncology cytokine with an AI-designed slow-release modification intended to widen the therapeutic window.

## Achievements

- Launched as the first company spinout announced by the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design.
- Sold Cyrus Bench to more than 120 pharmaceutical firms and worked on more than 30 partnered discovery programs, according to company materials.
- Raised an $18 million Series B and acquired Orthogonal Biologics in 2021 to integrate computational design with deep mutational scanning.
- Co-founded the OpenFold consortium, which develops open-source protein structure and design tools.
- Produced an engineered ACE2 decoy that showed activity against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants in peer-reviewed preclinical work.
- Selected CYR212 as its clinical development candidate in January 2025 after reported preclinical pharmacology and immunogenicity studies.
- Its scientific co-founder David Baker shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for computational protein design.

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Cyrus said CYR212 was planned to enter clinical development in 2026 and described an IL-22 program intended for later clinical testing; these remain forward-looking company plans.
- **2025-01** — The company selected CYR212 as its clinical development candidate for chronic IgG-driven autoimmune diseases including myasthenia gravis and immune thrombocytopenia.
- **2024-12** — Cyrus reported rabbit data showing repeat dosing of its engineered IdeS candidate without detected anti-drug antibodies over the reported observation period.
- **2024-06** — Cyrus spun out its software and services group as Levitate Bio, a for-profit subsidiary of the Rosetta Commons Foundation.
- **2024-01** — The company presented novel IgG-degrading IdeS development candidates for autoimmune indications at the PepTalk conference.

## Links

- Website: https://cyrusbio.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyrus-biotechnology
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/cyrusbiotech
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cyrusbio.bsky.social

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/cyrus-biotechnology
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-22