Alumni: Revolve Biotechnologies

BY MARY SPIRO

If you are in the business of engineering new proteins for any purpose, it’s likely that you will need DNA “libraries” as templates from which to synthesize different protein molecules. But constructing a customized DNA library is not always something a researcher would do in-house. The process can be costly, labor intensive and requires special expertise and equipment. Instead, a researcher would buy custom-made libraries from another lab that specialize in such endeavors.

Enter Revolve Biotechnologies, a startup founded by Johns Hopkins University alum Elad Firnberg. Revolve Biotechnologies builds DNA mutation libraries used for engineering useful proteins. Firnberg’s company accomplishes this task more quickly and less expensively than competitors using a technique he perfected while working in a Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT) affiliated laboratory. Revolve Biotechnologies has set up shop in the historic Stieff Silver Building in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, just minutes from Johns Hopkins University.

The following is a Q&A with Firnberg:

INBT: How are you filling a needed gap either locally or nationally for this service?

Firnberg: Many research labs in academia and industry require mutation libraries but lack the expertise or have limited resources to build them in-house. We fulfill this need by providing them with our custom library generation service. We also use our library technique in order to develop useful proteins for our clients such as antibodies and fluorescent proteins. INBT: Where did you get the idea for Revolve?

Firnberg: During my graduate studies in Marc Ostermeier’s lab in the ChemBE department, we developed a new technique called PFunkel mutagenesis for building DNA mutant libraries. After we published it, we noticed that other labs were also interested in using these libraries and some contacted us. Along with several students in the lab, we entered a business plan competition and the company was born from that experience.

INBT: Who are your typical clients?

Firnberg: Our clients are scientists at other biotech companies (usually therapeutics or bio-based chemicals) and researchers in academic labs.

INBT: How is what you produce different or better than what a similar company might do? That is, what makes Revolve Biotechnologies unique?

Firnberg: We are unique due to our intellectual property. This technology allows us to build libraries in about 4-fold less time and for a lower cost than competitors. That means we can deliver products faster to our clients and speed up development of new proteins.

Infrared fluorescent proteins in bacterial colonies developed by Revolve Biotechnologies. Image courtesy Elad Firnberg.

INBT: What are the challenges of running a startup? What are the rewards?

Firnberg: The challenge of running a small startup company such as Revolve is the many roles and responsibilities undertaken by a small number of staff. This is especially challenging to manage while also staying focused on the science. The rewards are the ability to have influence in shaping the direction and future of the company.

INBT: How did your training at JHU and involvement with INBT help you prepare to create this technology and launch this business?

Firnberg: My graduate training at JHU offered me a strong foundation in chemical and biomolecular engineering and the technology itself emerged from my thesis work. I first started learning about how to write a business plan and launch a business when we entered the annual business plan competition at JHU. After that we got some coaching from the JHU FastForward program, which was new at the time. INBT: Anything else people should know about Revolve Biotechnologies?

Firnberg: Running a company is a lot like graduate school in that it consists of prolonged stretches of failure punctuated by occasional moments of great glory that make it all worthwhile.

For more information about Revolve Biotechnologies, Inc., go to http://www.revolvebiotech.com. Graduates from INBT-affiliated laboratories and their principal investigators have gone on to be the founders of more than 15 business enterprises. Some of these companies include Circulomics, Cancer Targeting Systems, Gemstone Biotherapeutics, Asclepyx, and LifeSprout.