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

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Fatih Birol

Fatih Birol, MSc

Co-Founder, CEO

More than 30 years of corporate experience with multinational market leaders and start-ups, specializing in sales, marketing, implementation, and management.

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Inanç Birol

Inanç Birol, PhD

Co-Founder, CSO

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

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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 has contributed to antimicrobial peptide discovery and characterization for the Canadian poultry industry.

R&D Team

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Luke Birol

Luke Birol, BA

R&D Technician

BA in Sociology and Political Science from the University of British Columbia. Brings a background in IT administration, networks, and infrastructure to the lab, applies coding and systems thinking to Amphoraxe’s R&D workflows, and leads the team as its research technician.

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Emily Zhang

Emily Zhang, BSc

Research Intern

BSc in Computer Science and Microbiology & Immunology, and current MSc student in Bioinformatics at the University of British Columbia. Research focuses on developing in silico prediction methods for antimicrobial peptide research and development.

Nathaniel Zamora

Nathaniel Zamora, BSc

Research Intern

BSc in Biochemistry, and current MSc student at the University of Victoria. Research focuses on engineering Pichia pastoris for industrial-scale antimicrobial peptide production, combining synthetic biology with practical bioprocess development.

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Ali Salehi

Ali Salehi

Research Intern

MSc student in Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia, in the Birol Lab. Research focuses on developing scalable pharmacodynamic tools to evaluate antimicrobial peptide resistance risk.

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Anna Dema

Anna Dema, BSc

Research Intern

BSc in Microbiology, and current MSc student in Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Victoria, in the Helbing Lab. Research focuses on developing an E. coli cell-free system for antimicrobial peptide synthesis.

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Berke Uçar

Berke Uçar, MSc

Research Intern

MSc in Bioinformatics, and current PhD student in Bioinformatics at the University of British Columbia. Research focuses on developing efficient, intelligent computational methods to uncover the mechanisms by which antimicrobial peptides function.

Advisory Board

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Mert Demiray

Mert Demiray, MBA, CFA

Business Financing Advisor

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

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Bill Cox

Bill Cox, DVM, Dip Path

Advisory Board Member

Veterinarian with experience in general veterinary and poultry practice. Spent several years in the animal health industry conducting clinical trials of products including anticoccidials for poultry, anthelmintics and antibiotics for cattle, and antibiotics for companion animals. Provides direction on the testing, regulatory approval, and use of new Amphoraxe products in animals.

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Caren Helbing

Caren Helbing, PhD

Advisory Board Member

Professor and head of the Laboratory for Applied Ecotoxicogenomics and Biomolecule Innovation at the University of Victoria. An award-winning researcher directing an internationally recognized team that discovers and develops biomolecules to promote animal, environmental, and ecosystem health, including antimicrobial peptides.

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Chris Nelson

Chris Nelson, PhD

Advisory Board Member

Head of the Chromatin Biology Lab in the School of Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Victoria, using molecular, genetic, and systems-level approaches in yeast to investigate the mechanisms that regulate gene expression and maintain genome stability.

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