Start-up Workshop Panel
Maria Soloveychik
CEO, SyntheX
SyntheX uses synthetic biology to create the next generation of drug discovery platforms to modulate proteins. Using genetically engineered circuits, our platform technologies rely on intracellular drug selection as opposed to in vitro screening. This allows us to discover compounds with novel modes of action that can engage targets in both competitive and allosteric ways. We have developed ToRPPIDO to discover disruptors of protein-protein interactions, and ToRNeDO to discover functional protein degraders using a pre-specified E3 ligase and a neosubstrate of interest. In addition to our internal pipeline, we have executed external collaborations to expand the reach of our platforms. Our internal focus is on oncology, where we generated an internal pipeline targeting proteins based on the concepts of synthetic lethality and oncogene addition with a particular emphasis on the Ras/MAPK pathway.
Dr. Maria Soloveychik is the co-founder and CEO of SyntheX, a therapeutics company focused on accelerating drug discovery using synthetic biology. SyntheX was founded in 2016 and is based in San Francisco. Maria has obtained her PhD from the department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, where she discovered novel pathways linking metabolism and epigenetic signaling. Maria was previously a research scientist at a structural genomics consortium, where her work led to the determination of numerous structures and identification of several drug candidates.