Cell Design Labs

Cell Design Labs was a pre-clinical stage biotherapeutics company focused on developing next-generation cell-based therapies using synthetic biology. The company's core technologies included the synNotch (synthetic Notch) receptor platform, which allows for precise control over cell activation and payload delivery, and the Throttle switch, designed to modulate the activity of CAR-T cells. By engineering cells with these biological programming tools, Cell Design Labs aimed to improve the safety and efficacy of treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company was acquired by Gilead Sciences' subsidiary Kite Pharma in 2017 to bolster its cell therapy pipeline and technology portfolio.