Our History
Inception and Start Up (2008−2010)
While working at Ensemble Therapeutics (a Flagship Venture-funded company) from 2004 to 2008, Dr. Yumei Huang realized a major gap in the market for high-quality bioconjugation services. Many outsourced bioconjugates were either non-functional or performed poorly in biological assays. Although Yumei's main role at Ensemble was core technology development, she was frequently asked to help biologists prepare bioconjugates for their assays. At the same time, she was eager to continue some of her unfinished research at MIT on developing novel photo-crosslinking reagents for studying membrane proteins.
In October 2008, Yumei founded CellMosaic®, naming after the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane. Her initial vision was to support the company by offering bioconjugation services. In December 2008, she established a laboratory at Gateway Park (Worcester), part of the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiative (MBI), the longest-running life sciences incubator in Massachusetts. By February 2009, Yumei had become self-employed, launched a website, and started business operations. Her first project came from Professor Darry J. Pappin’s lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, for which she prepared a unique mass tagging reagent valued at $9,300. Prof. Pappin, a friend of Yumei, sent the order immediately after she set up her lab, having been unable to find another company capable of making the compound.
Later that year, Dr. Frank Guarnieri, CSO of start-up PAKA Pulmonary Pharmaceuticals, visited Yumei’s 200 sq. ft. lab. Based on a referral from a colleague, Frank commissioned a novel peptide-drug conjugate, despite limited company resources. Frank had used a similar conjugate outsourced from another company that could only label the peptide at the N-terminus. Yumei's expertise allowed her to redesign the conjugate with C-terminus labeling, improving the binding affinity by tenfold. This success showcased CellMosaic's ability to develop complex bioconjugates.
On November 30, 2010, CellMosaic was recognized as one of the “Five startups to watch” in New England by Mass. High. Tech. By March 2011, Yumei hired her first employee and expanded to a 1,600 sq. ft. facility. As the company grew, Yumei realized that bioconjugation was the future of life sciences, leading her to shift focus from membrane protein studies to full-time work in bioconjugation.
Technologies Development (2011−2016)
In January 2011, Sytarga inquired about CellMosaic’s capability to produce multiple duocarmycin ADC products with high drug-to-antibody loading ratio (DAR). Although the order did not materialize due to Sytarga's acquisition by Synthon later that year, the inquiry led Yumei to a key realization: the hydrophilic linkers and crosslinking systems she was developing could be adapted to achieve the high loading needed for ADCs. By July 2012, she had finalized the design of these linkers, based on sugar alcohol molecules, and filed a PCT patent application for AqueaTether® (AqT®) technologies.
Her vision was to build an expansive library of versatile linkers, capitalizing on the unique properties of sugar alcohols: their diversities, super hydrophilic nature, and biocompatibility. Despite the clear advantages of these molecules, no one had yet explored this space, likely due to the inherent challenges in modifying and derivatizing sugar alcohols for practical use. AqT® technologies offered a breakthrough, laying the foundation for advanced conjugation chemistry and novel drug delivery systems.
In September 2012, CellMosaic® was awarded a phase I SBIR grant from NIGMS/NIH to develop oxLink™ and sxLink™ technologies for labeling, crosslinking, and detection of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), based on Yumei's earlier work at MIT. This grant had been submitted in response to the 2009 NIH challenge grant in Health and Science Research.
This success encouraged Yumei to apply for the highly competitive DoD Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Breakthrough Award, funding part of the AqT® platform development. Out of 372 Level 1 applications worldwide, CellMosaic® was the only for-profit company among the 15 finalists recommended for funding in FY2014.
By December 2015, CellMosaic® relocated from the MBI incubator labs to a new facility at Cummings Properties in Woburn, MA. In April 2016, CellMosaic® received the 2015 Joseph R. Carter Innovation Award from MBI and MassBio.
Products and Services Development (2017−present)
In late 2016, CellMosaic® introduced the PerKit™ product line to enable customers to prepare high-quality bioconjugates in-house. Initially, there was hesitancy in developing such kits, as similar efforts by other companies have failed. However, CellMosaic® successfully created user-friendly, effective kits, with the first kit—PerKit™ HRP-Oligo Conjugation Kit—launched on January 18, 2017. That year, Cue Inc. purchased 78 reaction kits.
On May 12, 2017, CellMosaic® launched the first standard reagent, curcumin-beta-D-glucuronide, based on a customer’s request.
On December 29, 2017, the PerKit™ product line had expanded to include ADC kits with 58 reaction kits sold in 2018.
On March 24, 2021, CellMosaic® expanded its reagents/kits portfolio to include the AqT® product line, launching the first AqT® Biotin Active Ester Antibody Labeling Kit.
On September 1, 2023, CellMosaic® introduced a routine conjugation service for medium and large-scale ADC synthesis, simplifying the process with a web-based ordering system for custom bioconjugation services.