Tillman Gerngross
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Tillman Gerngross (born November 15, 1963) is an Austro-American
scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...
. He is a professor of
bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...
at the
Thayer School of Engineering The Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth (branded as Dartmouth Engineering) is the engineering school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Located in a three-building complex along th ...
at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, and an adjunct professor in the departments of biology and chemistry at Dartmouth. Gerngross has been an active inventor and to date his work has resulted in the founding of multiple companies (GlycoFi, Inc., Adimab LLC, Arsanis, Inc., Alector asdaq:ALEC Avitide, Inc., Amagma, Inc., Ankyra, and Adagio asdaq:ADGI and over a dozen U.S. and international patents. Gerngross was elected a member of the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...
in 2017.


Academic background

Gerngross received a M.S. (Dipl. Ing.) in chemical engineering (1989) and later a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the
Technical University of Vienna TU Wien () is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university's teaching and research are focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties, and ...
, Austria. Following his studies in Austria he became a visiting scientist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
in the laboratory of the late Arnold Demain (1989–91) and later joined the laboratory of Anthony Sinskey and
JoAnne Stubbe JoAnne Stubbe (born June 11, 1946) is an American chemist best known for her work on ribonucleotide reductases, for which she was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2017, she retired as a professor of chemistry and biology at the M ...
at MIT as a postdoctoral associate from 1991 to 1993. From 1993 till 1998 he headed the fermentation and process development group at Metabolix Inc., a small startup company in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. In 1998 he left industry to join the faculty at Dartmouth where he focused his research on
protein engineering Protein engineering is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins through the design and production of unnatural polypeptides, often by altering amino acid sequences found in nature. It is a young discipline, with much research taking pl ...
, glycoprotein engineering in yeast, and life cycle analysis of competing manufacturing technologies. In addition to this work, Gerngross’ lab also developed a novel protein expression system based on the
industrial fermentation Industrial fermentation is the intentional use of fermentation in manufacturing processes. In addition to the mass production of fermented foods and drinks, industrial fermentation has widespread applications in chemical industry. Commodity ch ...
organisms ''
Ralstonia eutropha ''Cupriavidus necator'' is a Gram-negative soil bacterium of the class Betaproteobacteria. Taxonomy ''Cupriavidus necator'' has gone through a series of name changes. In the first half of the 20th century, many micro-organisms were isolated ...
'', formerly '' Alcaligenes eutrophus''. With certain model proteins, this expression system has shown to outperform ''
E. coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escherichia'' that is commonly foun ...
'', the well proven workhorse of prokaryotic protein expression. The work on ''Ralstonia eutropha'' was later expanded in collaboration with Prof. Wood at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
to combine recombinant expression of proteins with the ability to purify them in vivo. In the late 1990s Gerngross became one of the first vocal critics of biobased processes. By using life cycle assessment tools he demonstrated the shortcomings of
bioplastic Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biomass sources. Timeline of plastic development, Historically, bioplastics made from natural materials like shellac or Celluloid, cellulose had been the first plastics. Since the end of ...
s and similar biomass based technologies intended as a substitute for the petrochemical processes used today. His main findings showed that changing from petrochemical to
biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...
-based processes often worsens their environmental impact and increases the emissions of carbon dioxide when compared to conventional processes based on fossil fuel stocks. With the recent mandate to increase biofuel content in the United States this area of research has become increasingly important, but to date has failed to guide public policy in the United States. Arguably, Gerngross' most important biotechnological contribution consisted of humanizing the
glycosylation Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate (or ' glycan'), i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule (a glycosyl acceptor) in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology (but not ...
machinery in yeast to produce human therapeutic proteins, including antibodies, with fully human carbohydrate structures. Much of this work was conducted at Glycofi, Inc., a
Lebanon, New Hampshire Lebanon ( ) is the only city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshi ...
biotechnology startup company that was acquired in 2006 by Merck in a record-setting $400 million transaction. His work has been frequently cited in the popular press including ''
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'' (London),
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, ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'',
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'', ''
New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...
'', ''
Nature Biotechnology ''Nature Biotechnology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. The editor-in-chief is Barbara Cheifet who heads an in-house team of editors. The focus of the journal is biotechnology including research resu ...
'' and the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. He has most recently been covered by the
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
,
CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...
, First Rounders, Evaluate Pharma, STAT and numerous others.


Entrepreneurial Activities

In 2000 Gerngross co-founded Glycofi, Inc. and served as the company's Chief Scientific Officer until its acquisition by Merck & Co. in the spring of 2006. In the fall of 2006 Dr. Gerngross joined SV Life Sciences as a venture partner where he advises on investments in the bio-therapeutics area. SV Life Sciences manages five investment funds with an aggregate capital of about $1.6 billion. In 2007 Dr. Gerngross co-founded Adimab LLC. with Prof. Dane Wittrup at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
and Errik Anderson to develop a novel platform for the discovery of human
antibodies An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as bacteria and viruses, including those that caus ...
in yeast. Gerngross stepped down from heading Adimab in February 2023, and was replaced by lawyer Philip Chase. To date the company has raised five rounds of venture financing from Polaris Ventures, SV Life Sciences, Google Ventures,
OrbiMed OrbiMed (OrbiMed Advisors) is an American investment firm based in New York City, United States. It is focused on making public and private investments in the Healthcare and Biotechnology industries. OrbiMed is considered one of the world's large ...
Advisors, and Borealis Ventures and employs about 70 people in
Lebanon, New Hampshire Lebanon ( ) is the only city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshi ...
. In 2020, Gerngross cofounded Adagio as a spinout of Adimab which was developing a treatment for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
. In Feb. 2022, Tillman Gerngross resigned as head of the company amid concerns about the efficacy of the drug. The company changed its name to Invivyd and broadened its focus in September 2022. There is currently a pending case of fraud against Tillman related to Adagio in Massachusetts, filed January 2023. In January 2022, Gerngross introduced a new company, Amagma, which also focused on developing antibodies. Amagma was folded in 2023, and the status of its assets are unknown.


Awards and recognition

2004: GlycoFi is awarded ''Scientific American’s'' Top 50 Award for the most innovative manufacturing technology. 2006: The readers of ''Nature Biotechnology'' select Gerngross amongst the most remarkable and influential biotechnology personalities of the decade. 2007: Gerngross and Glycofi co-founder Charles Hutchinson are named New Hampshire Entrepreneurs of the Year to honor their success with GlycoFi. 2017: Gerngross received the Contrarian Award fro
Xconomy
in 2017.


References


Additional references

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External links

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About Adimab LLC.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerngross, Tillman Living people Engineers from Vienna American molecular biologists Thayer School of Engineering faculty TU Wien alumni Austrian molecular biologists 1963 births