Protein engineering is constrained by uncertainty, resulting in long development cycles, costly experimental iterations, and unpredictable success rates. At xyna.bio, we reduce design uncertainty, specializing in low-data environments and high-complexity protein systems where current approaches fall short. We are building the bridge between wet lab and dry lab by automating complex bioinformatics workflows. Our AI-driven platform leverages hybrid models that combine machine learning, physics-based simulation, and domain expertise to orchestrate end-to-end in silico pipelines. It forms the foundation of our entire workflow and is embedded across sequence design, structure prediction, dynamics simulation, and candidate optimization, enabling consistent, decision-ready insights at every stage. We deliver this through an intuitive, no-code platform that unifies these capabilities into seamless in silico workflows, complemented by custom model development and expert-designed experimental protocols, positioning us as an in silico CRO supporting early-stage R&D. We focus on accelerating biologics discovery, particularly nanobody (VHH) engineering, through automated screening, structural modeling, and developability assessment. By shifting critical decision-making into computation and enabling closed-loop integration between experimental and computational workflows, xyna.bio reduces development time, lowers costs, and increases success rates in early-stage R&D. We enable trusted, agentic hyperautomation through continuous quality assurance across the pipeline, complemented by robust data security and engineering aligned with the highest European standards. This is backed by decades of experience from our parent company, GIP Exyr GmbH, a developer of process automation software for leading telecommunications providers in the critical infrastructure sector. Our mission is to make advanced computational biology accessible, scalable, and fully integrated into modern life sciences innovation. Meet us at booth 3335.
Veneno Technologies Co. Ltd.
Creating therapeutic Disulfide-Rich Peptides targeting transmembrane proteins including ion channels, GPCRs, and transporters. | Veneno Technologies is a Japan-origin deep-tech biotech company founded in 2020 and built around a proprietary Disulfide-Rich Peptide, or DRP, discovery platform. Based on scientific achievements originating from AIST, the company has established an integrated end-to-end system combining design, screening, functional evaluation, and production of DRPs through its proprietary Veneno Suite and PERISS platform. Veneno aims to create a new peptide modality for targets that have remained difficult to address with conventional small molecules or antibodies. The company’s core strength lies in its ability to translate the intrinsic biological advantages of naturally occurring DRPs into an industrial discovery engine. Because DRPs possess multiple disulfide bonds and a conformationally constrained structure, they can offer high stability, protease resistance, thermal robustness, and strong target selectivity. These properties make DRPs especially attractive for membrane proteins and other challenging target classes where conventional modalities often face limitations in selectivity, penetration, or functional control. Veneno is leveraging this differentiated biology to generate novel therapeutic candidates with the potential to open new mechanisms of action in previously hard-to-drug disease areas. Current Strategic Focus Areas 1) Ri-DRP drug discovery: Veneno is actively advancing Ri-DRP programs in which DRPs are conjugated with radioactive payloads, including alpha-emitting isotopes. By combining the high target selectivity and compact size of DRPs with radiopharmaceutical design, the company aims to enable precise tumor targeting and differentiated payload delivery beyond what is often achievable with conventional antibody-based radioconjugates or small-molecule radiopharmaceuticals. Ri-DRP represents a highly strategic direction for Veneno, particularly in oncology, where target-specific delivery, tissue distribution, and therapeutic precision are central to next-generation drug design. 2) Functional development of DRPs as next-generation antibody-like molecules: Veneno positions DRPs not simply as peptides, but as a next-generation functional modality that can complement and, in selected settings, outperform antibodies. The compact and highly structured nature of DRPs allows precise interaction with biologically important surfaces while maintaining strong stability and selectivity. This creates opportunities in areas where antibodies may be constrained by tissue penetration, epitope accessibility, or molecular size. Veneno is therefore developing DRPs as next-generation antibody-like agents for membrane proteins, complex interaction interfaces, and disease areas that require finely tuned molecular recognition. 3) DRP drug discovery for membrane proteins including ion channels, GPCRs, and transporters: Veneno’s discovery platform is particularly differentiated in the generation of functional DRPs against membrane proteins that have historically been difficult to drug. Through the proprietary PERISS method, the company can identify inhibitor, activator, and binder DRPs for ion channels, GPCRs, transporters, and related membrane targets. These target classes are biologically important across oncology, inflammation, pain, cardiometabolic disorders, and other major therapeutic areas, yet they remain challenging because small molecules can suffer from off-target effects and antibodies often have limited access to the relevant target surfaces. Veneno is using DRPs to bridge this gap and unlock first-in-class opportunities in membrane protein drug discovery. Through these three focus areas, Veneno Technologies is positioning DRPs as a scalable platform for next-generation therapeutics spanning membrane protein drug discovery, antibody-like functional molecules, and radiopharmaceutical innovation. At BIO International 2026, the company is seeking global collaboration opportunities including joint research, co-development, licensing, and strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, biotech innovators, radiopharmaceutical developers, and research institutions.
Van Heron Labs
. | Van Heron Labs (VHL) The Cellular Intelligence Layer for Life Sciences Booth #1611 | vanheronlabs.com | contact@vanheronlabs.com — Van Heron Labs is transforming how biological processes are designed, optimized, and scaled. VHL has built the most powerful cellular intelligence engine ever created — the only end-to-end, multi-omic digital twin platform designed exclusively for cellular optimization. At the core of VHL’s platform is a proprietary system that decodes complete cellular biology — gene expression, metabolism, stress responses, and biomolecular needs across 17 molecular categories spanning thousands of compounds — and translates that data into a real-time biological digital twin. VHL identifies and predicts the impact of every critical biomolecule: metabolites, ions, trace metals, minerals, cofactors, growth factors, cytokines, ECM components, and more. The result: VHL customers see breakthrough improvements in titer, viability, potency, and manufacturability — faster and at a fraction of the cost of traditional R&D. Proven across cell therapy, biologics, precision fermentation, and more: T cell therapies (CD4/CD8, TIL, Treg): 80% improved viability, 40% increase in activation, FOXP3 stability for greater potency — saving $25K–$60K per batch iPSC programs: ~25 critical ingredients identified, many absent from any commercial media — 10X cheaper than internal R&D, 5 months faster to clinic MSC programs: ~30 critical ingredients identified, resolving stress pathways and improving scale-up reliability — unlocking $25–80M in potential new media product revenue HEK / bioprocessing: 40–200% proliferation improvement, 900% cell density gains with process optimization, 360% higher protein titer Microbial (E. coli, B. subtilis, P. aeruginosa): 200–400% proliferation increases, 200–360% higher titer, fully defined bioreactor media. How you can work with VHL: VHL offers four flexible engagement models — Analytics Only (1-week turnaround), Process Development Recommendations (1–2 weeks), Co-Development (3–10 weeks), and Strategic Partnerships for long-term innovation. All engagements begin with RNA-Seq or proteomics data and deliver interactive, publication-quality multi-omics reports, biological digital twins, and actionable recommendations your team can execute immediately. Backed by NVIDIA, Microsoft, and AWS, and trusted by dozens of life science companies, large and small. Who we’re looking to meet at BIO 2026: VHL is actively seeking strategic partnerships with CDMOs, CROs, reagent and culture media manufacturers, and asset-focused companies looking to improve manufacturing performance, reduce R&D burden, develop proprietary formulations, and unlock new revenue streams through the power of cellular intelligence. Want to connect before San Diego? Schedule a meeting or platform demo with CEO & Founder Rebecca Vaught, Ph.D. at calendly.com/rvaught-vanheronlabs/30min — or stop by Booth #1611 and meet us in person. We’d love to show you what cellular intelligence can do for your program.
UNLV Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development
UNLV is Nevada’s premier public research university and a powerhouse for groundbreaking discovery and innovation, particularly in life sciences and biotechnology. At the forefront of UNLV’s industry and business engagement are our dynamic offices of Economic Development and Technology Transfer, serving as vital connectors between pioneering research and impactful commercialization opportunities. UNLV’s cutting-edge Brain Health Department as well as the innovative Wastewater Surveillance Laboratory exemplify our bold approach to solving complex health and environmental challenges. Researchers at these centers drive groundbreaking advancements with profound implications for neuroscience, public health, environmental monitoring, and disease prevention. Uniquely situated within a collaborative and vibrant regional ecosystem, UNLV thrives alongside major stakeholders committed to ambitious, strategic coordination and innovative thinking. This environment enables business and industry partnerships to flourish, supported by open communication and outside-the-box planning that accelerate shared success. At BIO International 2025, our goal is clear: to connect industry leaders, visionaries, and partners directly with UNLV’s exceptional talent, transformative research capabilities, and rich pipeline of licensable technologies. Opportunities abound at UNLV for collaborative sponsored research, tailored workforce development programs, robust startup incubation support, and access to patented university technologies poised for commercialization. Discover how partnering with UNLV can propel your organization’s priorities forward through innovative solutions and collaborations. Connect with us at BIO to harness the full potential of our research excellence and vibrant innovation ecosystem. | UNLV, a Carnegie R1 research institution, is a key player in the delegation’s efforts. UNLV emphasizes industry engagement through opportunities for students, strong bio research, innovation, a collaborative research and technology park, and commercialization of life-changing products in fields like life science, physical science, and engineering. UNLV is seeking to connect with BIOtech companies and explore collaboration opportunities.
Turbine
Turbine is virtualizing biological experiments with AI to accelerate drug discovery and improve clinical translatability. Using its foundational virtual cell model powered by its lab-in-the-loop, Turbine creates virtual copies of experimental assays. Running experiments at computational speed and scale allows researchers to test millions of ideas, beyond physical lab constraints, to understand biological drivers of disease. Working with scientists at leading biopharma like MSD (Merck & Co.), AstraZeneca and Bayer, Turbine’s virtual assays have rationalized experiments across more than 30 discovery programs. Backed by leading tech and industry investors like Accel, MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, Interactive Venture Partners and Beiersdorf, Turbine is turning biology into an engineering discipline.
Scienta Lab
Scienta is a techbio company founded in 2021, dedicated to transforming drug development in immunology and inflammation. By combining proprietary disease-specific data assets with next-generation foundation model AI, Scienta bridges the translational gap that has long made I&I drug development among the most costly and failure-prone in the pharmaceutical industry. Despite decades of research and significant investment, the majority of immunology drug candidates still fail in clinical trials, largely due to poor translation from animal models to human patients. Phase II failure rates in I&I remain stubbornly high, driven by an inability to reliably predict which patients will respond to a given therapy before a costly trial begins. Scienta was built to address this challenge at its root. At the core of Scienta’s platform is EVA, the first cross-species, multimodal foundation model dedicated exclusively to immunology and inflammation. EVA learns from ImmunAtlas, Scienta’s proprietary curated database aggregating over 600,000 patient and biosample profiles across more than 30 immune-mediated diseases, integrating clinical, transcriptomic, histological, and proteomic data from 70+ tissues and more than 3 billion biological data points. EVA operates across the full drug development pipeline. At the discovery stage, it enables zero-shot target efficacy and gene function prediction to identify and prioritize the most promising therapeutic mechanisms. In preclinical development, it models cross-species and cross-disease molecular perturbations to anticipate how a drug candidate will impact immune networks in humans, going beyond what animal models alone can reveal. At the clinical stage, it supports patient stratification, treatment response prediction, and disease activity forecasting to identify the right patients for the right therapies before trials begin. In independent benchmarking across 39 immune-specific tasks spanning the drug development pipeline, EVA achieved state-of-the-art results, outperforming both generalist biological foundation models and conventional baselines. These results have been validated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at leading biomedical and AI conferences. Scienta’s technology has been validated in concrete biopharma partnerships, with applications spanning dermatology, gastroenterology, rheumatology and neurology. Unlike generalist AI platforms or single-cell-focused tools, Scienta combines two capabilities rarely found together: high translational capability bridging preclinical to clinical development, and disease-specific explainability. Models are built to be interrogated, providing mechanistic interpretability that helps scientists understand why a prediction is made. This positions Scienta uniquely at the intersection of molecular precision and systemic, patient-level modeling. Scienta was co-founded by Camille Bouget (CEO, PharmD, previous experience across Sanofi, Sandoz, and Galapagos), Vincent Bouget (CSO, CentraleSupélec / MSc Biomedical Sciences), and Julien Duquesne (CTO, CentraleSupélec / MSc MVA, ENS Paris-Saclay). The company has raised 6.5 million euros in total funding, including support from the European Innovation Council’s EIC Accelerator, the EU’s flagship program for breakthrough deep-tech innovations.
Schrödinger
Schrödinger is transforming molecular discovery through a physics-based computational platform that enables the rapid identification of highly optimized molecules for drug development and materials science. With over 30 years of R&D investment, our software is the industry standard—licensed by biotech, pharmaceutical, and industrial leaders, as well as academic institutions globally. Beyond software licensing, Schrödinger leverages its technology to advance a diverse portfolio of collaborative and proprietary drug discovery programs. By integrating predictive modeling with high-performance computing, we are accelerating the path to life-changing therapies and materials. | Schrödinger is transforming molecular discovery with its computational platform, which enables the discovery of novel, highly optimized molecules for materials design and drug development. Schrödinger’s software platform is built on more than 30 years of R&D investment and is licensed by biotechnology, pharmaceutical and industrial companies, and academic institutions around the world. Schrödinger also leverages the platform to advance a portfolio of collaborative and proprietary programs. Founded in 1990, Schrödinger has approximately 800 employees operating from 15 locations globally. To learn more, visit www.schrodinger.com, follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, or visit our blog, Extrapolations.com. | Schrödinger is transforming the way materials are discovered. Schrödinger has pioneered a physics-based software platform that enables the discovery of novel materials more rapidly and at lower cost compared to traditional methods. The software platform is used by companies from organic electronics to consumer packaged goods, academic institutions, and government laboratories around the world. The platform has helped researchers in the food and beverage industry accelerate the design and development of sustainable food products.