Kernal Biologics Joins Lilly Gateway Labs to Accelerate In Vivo Cell Therapy Programs
Kernal Biologics, Inc., a venture-backed biotechnology company pioneering transformative therapeutics to program human cells directly inside the body, has announced its official relocation to Lilly Gateway Labs (LGL) in Boston. This strategic move positions Kernal Bio at the heart of one of the most innovative life sciences hubs in the world, enabling the company to accelerate its mission to develop next-generation in vivo cell therapies.
Lilly Gateway Labs, situated within the Eli Lilly and Company Seaport Innovation Center, serves as a shared innovation accelerator specifically designed to support early-stage biotechnology companies. The program provides startups with state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, operational support, and opportunities for scientific collaboration. Moreover, participating companies gain direct access to Lilly’s network of scientists, researchers, and industry executives, offering mentorship, guidance, and strategic insight that can significantly enhance early-stage development.
By joining LGL, Kernal Bio not only secures access to advanced research infrastructure but also enters a collaborative ecosystem where innovative science and entrepreneurial energy converge. Companies within the program maintain strategic independence while benefiting from Lilly’s global expertise, making it an ideal environment for a therapeutics company like Kernal Bio that is focused on cutting-edge cellular programming technologies.
Dr. Yusuf Erkul, MD, MBA, Co-Founder and CEO of Kernal Bio, expressed enthusiasm about the move:
We are honored to join this vibrant innovation hub and advance our therapeutic programs in such a collaborative environment. The Gateway Labs model offers tailored support for companies at our stage, allowing us to stay focused on our scientific mission while benefiting from Lilly’s deep expertise.
Kernal Bio’s technology platform is built around the concept of direct in vivo cellular programming, a novel approach that bypasses many of the limitations associated with traditional ex vivo cell therapies. By engineering therapeutics that can be delivered directly to patients’ cells within the body, Kernal Bio aims to simplify the manufacturing process, reduce costs, and expand access to potentially life-saving treatments for a wide range of diseases, including cancers, genetic disorders, and autoimmune conditions.
In addition to its relocation to Lilly Gateway Labs, Kernal Bio has made significant strides in computational biology and artificial intelligence. The company recently unveiled kernaLMTM, a proprietary large language model (LLM) specifically designed for mRNA sequence design. This platform leverages advanced machine learning algorithms to optimize the design of mRNA molecules, significantly improving upon existing technologies in terms of both efficiency and efficacy. The development of kernaLMTM represents a major milestone for Kernal Bio, reinforcing its position at the intersection of AI-driven drug discovery and cellular therapeutics.
The unveiling of kernaLMTM took place at the 2nd Annual Computational RNA Design & Delivery Summit, where it received recognition for its ability to outperform state-of-the-art models in designing effective mRNA sequences. This achievement underscores Kernal Bio’s commitment to leveraging computational tools to accelerate therapeutic development, reduce experimental iterations, and ultimately bring new treatments to patients faster.
Following the introduction of kernaLMTM, Kernal Bio was accepted into NVIDIA’s Inception Program, an elite initiative designed to support AI-driven startups with access to NVIDIA’s advanced computational resources, development tools, and technical expertise. This program provides critical infrastructure for training and scaling AI models, which is particularly valuable for Kernal Bio’s mRNA platform, where complex sequence optimization requires high-performance computing.
Burak Yilmaz, MS, Co-Founder and President of Kernal Bio, highlighted the significance of this support:
Support from NVIDIA and Lilly will help us scale our AI-driven solutions and accelerate our pipeline of transformative therapies. By combining computational innovation with our in vivo cellular programming platform, we are well-positioned to develop therapies that can fundamentally change patient outcomes.
The collaboration with Lilly Gateway Labs offers more than just physical space—it provides a collaborative scientific ecosystem where Kernal Bio can interact with other emerging biotech companies, share insights, and explore potential partnerships. This environment fosters creativity, accelerates problem-solving, and promotes rapid iteration of experimental designs, which is crucial for companies developing novel therapies in highly complex areas such as in vivo cellular programming.
From a strategic standpoint, Kernal Bio’s move to LGL aligns with broader industry trends emphasizing collaboration between large pharmaceutical companies and nimble biotech innovators. Such partnerships enable startups to benefit from the experience, resources, and regulatory knowledge of established pharmaceutical companies while maintaining the agility required to explore bold, novel scientific approaches.
Kernal Bio’s mission to transform therapeutic development through in vivo cell programming has the potential to address unmet medical needs across a wide range of indications. Traditional cell therapies, including CAR-T therapies, require ex vivo manipulation of patient cells, which is expensive, time-consuming, and logistically challenging. Kernal Bio’s approach circumvents these limitations by delivering therapeutic payloads directly into the patient’s body, allowing cells to be programmed in situ. This approach could drastically reduce treatment costs, expand patient access, and streamline regulatory pathways.
The company’s leadership team, consisting of experienced scientists and industry veterans, has emphasized a commitment to both scientific rigor and translational impact. By combining advanced AI-driven platforms with innovative cellular therapeutics, Kernal Bio aims to accelerate the discovery and development of therapies that are not only effective but also scalable and commercially viable.
Kernal Bio’s integration into Lilly Gateway Labs is expected to catalyze further advancements in the company’s pipeline. The access to cutting-edge instrumentation, shared expertise, and collaborative opportunities allows the team to accelerate experimental timelines, optimize therapeutic candidates, and refine delivery systems for their proprietary in vivo approaches.
Moreover, Kernal Bio’s recent achievements in computational RNA design and AI-based mRNA optimization reflect a broader trend in biotech toward digital therapeutics and data-driven drug discovery. By leveraging the computational power of NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure and the collaborative ecosystem of Lilly Gateway Labs, Kernal Bio is uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of what is possible in cell therapy development.
