chicago-biotech
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PRUNUS Therapeutics Is Betting the Company on the Moment Cancer Lets Go
Most cancer drugs chase a mutation, receptor or pathway. This tiny Chicago biotech is chasing a moment - when a metastatic cell leaves home and reveals a weakness.
Syntax Bio
Syntax Bio is a Chicago synthetic biology company building Cellgorithm, a CRISPR-based platform that programs stem cells to differentiate on command. Instead of coaxing stem cells into specialized cell types through months of manual, growth-factor-heavy protocols, Cellgorithm encodes the sequence of gene activations that mimic human development into a single DNA program, collapsing timelines from months to weeks. Spun out of the University of Illinois Chicago and formerly known as Cellgorithmics, the company has raised more than $25 million and is advancing a pancreatic beta cell therapy for type 1 diabetes while partnering with biopharma to program cells at scale.
Dimension Bio
Dimension Bio (formerly Dimension Inx) is a Chicago-based regenerative therapeutics company that turns living cells into implantable, tissue-like therapies. Its BioNidum platform fuses materials science, 3D printing, and digital manufacturing to build three-dimensional microenvironments that help transplanted cells survive, vascularize, and function in the body. A Northwestern University spinout, the company already brought the first FDA-cleared 3D-printed regenerative bone graft (CMFlex) to patients and is now aiming its lead program at acute liver failure - building an engineered, mini-liver-like therapy to stabilize patients and give their own organs a chance to recover.