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Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

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Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#31

Post by morraa »

1996 wrote: post #29
morraa wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a company we certainly work hard to ensure our technology is used for approved drug development. We have internal alerts as a company as to the risk of compounds being entered into our system and certainly suppliers and chemical manufacturers have high regulatory oversight. But yes there is always such an unfortunate risk but something we do spend time thinking about.

Maybe I should have phrased my question differently - your startup being exploited by a large group of people with disposable cash and unmet demands is one of the best possible outcomes. What is an "approved" drug development? Who gets to decide, when the substances are not restricted or scheduled? This means making them is not illegal. So I fail to see how it is an "unfortunate risk", except a risk of making money-…

This could be my misunderstanding of the definition of "designer drugs" but I interpreted this as substances which mimic controlled substances but don't trigger drug classification or testing. Assuming this definition then this is something we wouldn't feel comfortable supporting regardless of the cash or demand. My understanding is that these substances are not tested in animal and human trials or approved by governing bodies like the FDA which are critical for the safety and efficacy of use.

Though please do correct me if I'm missing the use case you are referring to.

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#32

Post by panabee »

this is an awesome idea and a very lucid explanation. good luck!

apologies if this is wildly inaccurate, but is it fair to characterize your startup as helping people create custom drugs the same way ARM helped people create custom chips? from the outside, it seems like there could be intriguing parallels.

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#33

Post by mc-robinson »

panabee wrote: post #32

this is an awesome idea and a very lucid explanation. good luck! apologies if this is wildly inaccurate, but is it fair to characterize your startup as helping people create custom drugs the same way ARM helped people create custom chips? from the outside, it seems like there could be intriguing parallels.

Thanks, really interesting parallel -- though I can't say I'm intimately familiar with how ARM's model works. I'll definitely do some reading.

But yes, we are very interested in helping people get made what they want to get made. It often falls into two situations:

(1) If the customer knows exactly the custom design they want to get made, we can help them find the best way to purchase or synthesize it. In many cases, customers may have trouble coordinating with CROs themselves, finding the best building blocks and route to the molecule, and dealing with logistics. We try to help ease that pain.

(2) The customer has a specific target they want to hit and they need just the right small molecule to "fit" in it. We also help with this, mainly through partnerships. And our thinking is that good design of small molecule inhibitors (such as one targeting the COVID main protease) involves expert knowledge of what can be quickly made and tested to help guide further design.

Lastly, we also work on suggesting molecules that may be slightly different from what the customer thinks they want, but may show similar activity -- and will be much easier to make.

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#34

Post by 1996 »

morraa wrote: post #31
1996 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I should have phrased my question differently - your startup being exploited by a large group of people with disposable cash and unmet demands is one of the best possible outcomes. What is an "approved" drug development? Who gets to decide, when the substances are not restricted or scheduled? This means making them is not illegal. So I fail to see how it is an "unfortunate risk", except a risk of making money-…

This could be my misunderstanding of the definition of "designer drugs" but I interpreted this as substances which mimic controlled substances but don't trigger drug classification or testing. Assuming this definition then this is something we wouldn't feel comfortable supporting regardless of the cash or demand. My understanding is that these substances are not tested in animal and human trials or approved by govern…

No correction needed, it is mostly correct - however, a lot of these substances have been tested and do not even mimic controlled substances: MK667 is a good example.

I think you may be throwing the baby with the bathwater, as designing and improving designer drugs is an untapped market with far more potential upsides than downsides.

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#35

Post by O_H_E »

mc-robinson wrote: post #33
panabee wrote: post #32

this is an awesome idea and a very lucid explanation. good luck! apologies if this is wildly inaccurate, but is it fair to characterize your startup as helping people create custom drugs the same way ARM helped people create custom chips? from the outside, it seems like there could be intriguing parallels.

Thanks, really interesting parallel -- though I can't say I'm intimately familiar with how ARM's model works. I'll definitely do some reading. But yes, we are very interested in helping people get made what they want to get made. It often falls into two situations: (1) If the customer knows exactly the custom design they want to get made, we can help them find the best way to purchase or synthesize it. In many cases,…

Yes, in the big picture, your model is quite like ARM's.

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#36

Post by panabee »

mc-robinson wrote: post #33
panabee wrote: post #32

this is an awesome idea and a very lucid explanation. good luck! apologies if this is wildly inaccurate, but is it fair to characterize your startup as helping people create custom drugs the same way ARM helped people create custom chips? from the outside, it seems like there could be intriguing parallels.

Thanks, really interesting parallel -- though I can't say I'm intimately familiar with how ARM's model works. I'll definitely do some reading. But yes, we are very interested in helping people get made what they want to get made. It often falls into two situations: (1) If the customer knows exactly the custom design they want to get made, we can help them find the best way to purchase or synthesize it. In many cases,…

if the comparison is accurate, the world you're enabling is one where custom drugs are as prevalent as custom chips and chem labs act as "foundries" to produce drugs. the role you play is to help customers with the design layer of the drug stack. if the parallels between the drug and semiconductor industries hold true, this framing would make it easier for investors to grasp the (massive) potential.

in the end, if your value tilts more toward logistics than IP, you may want to mine chemistry.com (?) for lessons, a startup from the dot-com boom funded by john doerr and kleiner perkins. the grand vision was to disrupt and streamline the logistics of the chemical industry.

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#37

Post by morraa »

panabee wrote: post #36
mc-robinson wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, really interesting parallel -- though I can't say I'm intimately familiar with how ARM's model works. I'll definitely do some reading. But yes, we are very interested in helping people get made what they want to get made. It often falls into two situations: (1) If the customer knows exactly the custom design they want to get made, we can help them find the best way to purchase or synthesize it. In many cases,…

if the comparison is accurate, the world you're enabling is one where custom drugs are as prevalent as custom chips and chem labs act as "foundries" to produce drugs. the role you play is to help customers with the design layer of the drug stack. if the parallels between the drug and semiconductor industries hold true, this framing would make it easier for investors to grasp the (massive) potential. in the end, if yo…

Thanks for this. Always keen to learn from older startups but I was unable to find the company you're referring to -- any idea as to the name?

Re: Launch HN: PostEra (YC W20) Medicinal Chemistry-as-a-Service and Covid Moonshot

#39

Post by panabee »

morraa wrote: post #37
panabee wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if the comparison is accurate, the world you're enabling is one where custom drugs are as prevalent as custom chips and chem labs act as "foundries" to produce drugs. the role you play is to help customers with the design layer of the drug stack. if the parallels between the drug and semiconductor industries hold true, this framing would make it easier for investors to grasp the (massive) potential. in the end, if yo…

Thanks for this. Always keen to learn from older startups but I was unable to find the company you're referring to -- any idea as to the name?

Sorry, the startup was named Chemdex (later Ventro). One article summarizing its downfall: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jun-24-fi-14133.... There were others like ChemConnect, but Chemdex was the most high-profile.

If the article is correct, high costs for building and maintaining the "Amazon for chemicals" were the primary cause of failure.

Many great ideas are a matter of when, not if. Knowing when to launch is as critical for entrepreneurs as is knowing when to buy for investors.

A modern Chemdex might thrive like the modern Webvan (ie Instacart) because if costs were the cause of death, a cloud infrastructure would address this issue.

Obviously, this is a very different model from the ARM model.

Hopefully one of these comparisons can offer helpful insights.

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