Novel biologics for cancer immunotherapy without resistance
Voyant Bio is proud to announce its acceptance into the latest cohort of the Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDS Studio), a digital accelerator designed to enable the next generation of technologies for drug discovery and development, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. MDS Studio was founded to offer support for early-stage biomedical startups providing strategic guidance, direct investment, and connection opportunities within Merck.
About Merck Digital Sciences Studio
The Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDS Studio or MDSS), a collaboration between Merck, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Northpond Ventures, McKesson Ventures, Microsoft for Startups, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute, a New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) subsidiary. The 10-month startup accelerator program, with direct investments from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Northpond Ventures, and McKesson Ventures, empowers members and enables the generation of innovative digital technologies for drug discovery and development through hands-on mentorship, connection opportunities with industry-leading partners, and training in an active entrepreneurial setting. Through the accelerator program, these startups will have access to workshops, coaching, office space, and Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub resources, including up to $150,000 Azure Cloud computing credits.
Assaf Magen, PhD
CEO & CSO
Assaf Magen, PhD, is the CEO and Founder of Voyant Bio, a recognized expert in computational biology, immunology, and data science, with extensive experience in spatial biology research.Dr. Magen earned his PhD in Computational Biology and has published influential research on immune cell interactions and their role in cancer resistance mechanisms in prestigious journals, including Nature Medicine. His visionary leadership combines innovative computational techniques with deep biological insights, guiding Voyant Bio’s development of precision immunotherapies.Under his guidance, the company’s unique AI-driven microscopy platform is redefining therapeutic strategies by precisely targeting cellular interactions within tumors, significantly improving the potential for successful immunotherapy outcomes for patients with treatment-resistant cancers.
Max Fereydouni, PhD
Head of R&D, Cell Biology
Dr. Fereydouni eading immuno-oncology scientist with industry experience at Adanate Inc., Innate-N-Adaptive Tx Consulting, and Sangamo Therapeutics, where he worked on immunology programs and led regulatory FDA submissions. His academic research focused on cancer immunotherapy, mast cell engineering, and HER2-positive tumor targeting, and he brings this translational expertise to Voyant Bio’s mission to decode immune dysfunction in cancer.
Gunjan Thakur, PhD
Bioinformatics & AI/ML
Dr. Thakur is a seasoned Machine Learning Scientist with over six years of experience at the intersection of computational biology and drug discovery. She brings deep expertise in deep learning, graph neural networks (GNNs), and generative AI to accelerate therapeutic development through integrated multi-omics data analysis.Gunjan is a patent holder in multi-omic biomarker discovery and has a strong track record of translating complex data into actionable insights. Her work bridges advanced computational models with experimental validation to drive innovation in precision medicine.
George Smith, PhD, MBA
Scientific & Business Advisory
Dr. Smith is a biotech executive and drug developer with 28 years of experience, multiple exits and commercial successes. Recently, he led development and operations at Myst, then, post-acquisition by Turnstone, was VP Cell Therapies at Turnstone, steering the company to an IPO. In IQVIA’s management consulting team, he built IQVIA into the advanced therapy market leader. He invented Paxlovid, helped develop Prevnar20, built Pfizer’s therapeutic vaccines department, and built Althea Technologies’ CRO business. He was CDO at Visicell and advises startups. George has a PhD and MBA from UCSD.
| Leverage our validated spatial biology platform to uncover previously hidden drivers of resistance to cancer immunotherapy (ICB, CAR T, Engagers, ISACs). |
| As we have successfully demonstrated in previous collaborations, our platform generates more sensitive patient selection strategies using novel spatial biomarkers. We can also inform R&D efforts to selectively target these interactions in refractory patients. |
| Simply send us a small number of archival patient tumor slides. We’ll perform deep spatial mapping and utilize our machine learning framework to identify resistance mechanisms. Our approach is specialized in mapping essential immune-immune cell interactions upstream of direct tumor killing and how they are disrupted. |
| If you have a specific target in mind, we can interrogate our spatially-informed immune cell interactions atlas across various cancer types to reveal which cell types and functional states would be affected, and how, letting you make informed decisions without wandering in the dark. |
| Input |
|---|
| Archival slides from 20+ tumors resected during or after treatment and pathological response status. |
| Output |
|---|
| Deep phenotyping of immune niches via highly-multiplexed imaging |
| Model of cellular interaction patterns distinguishing responders & non-responders |
| Actionable interaction axes to block/stimulate, or use for patient selection. |
HQ
Attn: Voyant-Bio
8910 University Center Lane, Suite 400
San Diego, CA 92122
Labs
Attn: Voyant-Bio
319 N. Bernardo ave, suite M110B
Mountain View, CA 94043
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