Neion's $11M Seed, A Better Way to Make Medicine

Biologics are among the most important medicines in the world — treating cancer, autoimmune and metabolic conditions, and preventing infectious diseases — yet the way we manufacture them hasn't fundamentally changed in decades. Production still depends on large-scale bioreactors, capital-intensive cell culture processes and fragile, geographically concentrated supply chains. As AI accelerates the pace of drug discovery, the manufacturing bottleneck is only becoming more acute. ‍

Neion Bio is emerging from stealth today with a better way to make medicine, announcing an $11M Seed from us and our friends at Caffeinated and Haystack, alongside an exciting commercial co-development and supply agreement with a major global pharmaceutical company.

Normally drug proteins are manufactured in industrial-scale factories, with capital intensive equipment. However, animals are capable of producing proteins 24/7 in cells without the complexity. Neion has created a way to manufacture these same proteins by leveraging nature's own protein factories at a fraction of the cost. In short, the team is genetically engineering chicken eggs to contain drug proteins. These proteins can then be extracted and used to produce medicine. All of this is enabled by large genomic datasets that unlock genome modeling.

The company's first commercial deal covers the co-development and supply of three monoclonal antibodies. Founders Dimi Kellari and Sam Levin combine deep expertise in evolutionary biology with the experience of delivering complex and research-intensive systems at scale.

We're partnering with Neion Bio because we believe the manufacturing layer is one of the biggest bottlenecks in securing supply chains for life saving drugs, and reducing the costs of prescriptions for everyday Americans. As AI compresses drug discovery timelines and biologics continue to grow market share, the companies that can produce therapeutic proteins faster, cheaper and more resiliently will reshape the industry. Neion is building that infrastructure.