From Lab to Market

From academic discovery to commercial innovation

2013

The Discovery

Our story traces back to the Birol Lab at BC Cancer's Genome Sciences Centre. In 2013, Co-Founder Dr. Inanç Birol partnered with Dr. Caren Helbing from University of Victoria on a groundbreaking project sequencing the North American bullfrog genome. The research focused on antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), with initial discoveries revealing many novel potential AMPs with remarkable therapeutic properties.

2013-2019

Academic Collaboration

Ongoing academic collaboration led by Dr. Birol has continued identifying and improving bullfrog AMPs, supported by Genome Canada and Genome British Columbia. The team has secured significant investment from these organizations through Large-Scale Applied Research Project funding, enabling the advancement of this promising technology.

2019

Company Formation

Amphoraxe Life Sciences Inc. was established in 2019 to optimize and commercialize the most promising identified AMPs. Our team remains committed to discovering additional candidate AMPs to counter antibiotic resistance—one of the most pressing threats to global health.

Today

Our Mission Continues

Today, we continue our work at the intersection of computational biology and antimicrobial research, developing next-generation solutions to combat antimicrobial resistance and protect both human health and global food supply chains.

Leadership

Our Team

Senior Team

Fatih Birol

Fatih Birol, MSc

Co-Founder, CEO

Fatih has more than 30 years of corporate experience. He has worked for multinational market leaders and start-ups, providing his expertise in sales, marketing, implementation, and management.

Inanç Birol

Inanç Birol, PhD

Co-Founder, CSO

Distinguished Scientist of Genome Sciences at BC Cancer, Professor of Medical Genetics at University of British Columbia, and Adjunct Scientist at UBC Centre for Disease Control. A highly cited researcher who led the academic team discovering the AMPs in development.

Anat Yanai, PhD

Anat Yanai, PhD

Industrial Research Scientist

PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology with three decades of research leadership. Specializes in biological solutions and contributed to AMP discovery and characterization for the Canadian poultry industry.

R&D Team

Luke Birol

Luke Birol

R&D Team Member

Bio coming soon.

Emily Zhang

Emily Zhang, BSc

Research Intern

BSc in Computer Science and Microbiology & Immunology, and current MSc student in Bioinformatics at UBC. Interested in developing in silico prediction methods for AMP research and development.

NZ

Nathaniel Zamora, BSc

Research Intern

BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Victoria (UVic) and current MSc student in Biochemistry at UVic. Nathaniel's research focuses on engineering Pichia pastoris for industrial-scale production of antimicrobial peptides, driven by a passion for applying synthetic biology to develop real-world solutions.

Ali Salehi

Ali Salehi

Research Intern

Graduate student in Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), interested in developing scalable pharmacodynamic tools to evaluate antimicrobial peptide resistance risk.

Anna Dema

Anna Dema, BSc

Research Intern

BSc in Microbiology from the University of Victoria (UVic) and current MSc student in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at UVic in the Helbing laboratory. Her research focuses on developing an E. coli cell-free system for antimicrobial peptide (AMP) synthesis.

Advisory Board

Mert Demiray

Mert Demiray, MBA, CFA

Business Financing Advisor

Managing Director at J. Safra Sarasin, Switzerland. Over 20 years of experience in finance and banking at UBS, Credit Suisse, DuPont, and FedEx. Holds a BS in Chemical Engineering.

BC

Bill Cox

Advisory Board Member

Bio coming soon.

Caren Helbing

Caren Helbing, PhD

Advisory Board Member

Caren is professor and head of the Laboratory for Applied Ecotoxicogenomics and Biomolecule Innovation at the University of Victoria. An award-winning researcher, she directs a productive, internationally recognized team discovering and developing biomolecules to promote animal, environmental, and ecosystem health including AMP discovery and development.

Chris Nelson

Chris Nelson, PhD

Advisory Board Member

Dr. Nelson leads the Chromatin Biology Lab in the School of Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Victoria. His research group uses molecular, genetic, and systems-level approaches in yeast to investigate the mechanisms that regulate gene expression and maintain genome stability.

GB

Gülnur Birol, PhD

Advisory Board Member

Bio coming soon.

Scholarly Publications

Our work is grounded in peer-reviewed research published in leading scientific journals including BMC Genomics, Nature Communications, Protein Science, and Scientific Reports.

View Publications