Avenue Biosciences uses AI-powered protein engineering to optimize the production of complex proteins, enabling faster, more efficient development of next-generation therapies like mRNA vaccines and cancer immunotherapies by improving how cells deliver crucial drug components. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Avenue Biosciences CEO Tero-Pekka Alastalo to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Tero-Pekka Alastalo’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Alastalo said:
“I’m Tero-Pekka Alastalo, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur with background in medicine and life sciences. I’m originally Finnish, trained as a pediatric cardiologist and researcher, but ended up as an entrepreneur after meeting like-minded people during my post-doctoral work at Stanford University.”
“For the past 15 years, I have been an entrepreneur in life science during pivotal times: In my first co-founded startup, clinical genetic testing company Blueprint Genetics, I witnessed the dramatic advances in gene therapies and technologies, and the market and pricing shifts that followed. Today, I’m the CEO for Avenue Biosciences, a transatlantic biotech that emerged out of stealth at a time when AI and protein design technologies were changing the field rapidly.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Alastalo shared:
“I became friends with Avenue Biosciences’ academic founder Ville Paavilainen during our post-doctoral work at Stanford and UCSF. A decade later, his research was forming a promising new technology, co-invented by Katja Rosti, Avenue Biosciences’ co-founder and COO. We saw massive opportunities in this technology, and Avenue Biosciences emerged out of stealth in 2024 following our first funding round.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Alastalo explained:
“Our proprietary protein engineering technology enables signal peptide engineering and analysis at scale, expanding from a handful of candidates to thousands engineered in parallel. In practice, this allows us to generate thousands of versions of a therapeutic protein and identify the signal peptide–protein combinations that deliver the highest yield and quality. This approach significantly improves the manufacturability of protein-based therapies across a wide range of diseases and therapeutic applications.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Alastalo acknowledged:
“Drug discovery and development rely on established workflows, long timelines, and substantial investments of time and resources. Sales cycles are lengthy, and success in this field requires rigorous validation. We have been fortunate to secure funding from investors who share our conviction and vision. New, life-saving treatments must be brought to market faster and made more widely accessible to patients worldwide.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Alastalo noted:
“We are continuously generating industry-first data sets on how specific signal peptides impact their target proteins. The more we use our technology, the closer we are to creating high-quality predictive tools for the industry that can even more shorten development timelines or, for example, help predict signal peptides for completely novel proteins made using artificial intelligence.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Alastalo cited:
“We have been operating out of stealth for less than 2 years. I would say the funding rounds in 2024 and 2025, as they allow to further expand our technological capabilities and project volume.”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Alastalo highlighted:
“In our commercial pilot projects, we have seen manyfold protein expression increases for therapeutic proteins currently on the market for treating cancer or infectious diseases. Real-life achievements remind us every day that our work will make a huge industry impact once we are at large-scale commercial operations.”
Funding/Revenue
Are you able to discuss funding and/or revenue metrics? Alastalo revealed:
“We were generating revenue on our first year, and operations keep growing. We recently successfully closed a Seed extension funding round of $5.7 million.”
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Alastalo assessed that it is about €3.6 billion annually.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Alastalo affirmed:
“We are currently the only one resolving therapeutic protein production challenges with high throughput signal peptide engineering, directly modulating the efficacy of the secretory pathway.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Alastalo concluded:
“Expand commercial operations globally. The volume of complex proteins in our pipeline will also make our internal machine learning capabilities a key focus area and allow us to create new prediction tools. These tools will further expand our understanding on modulating the secretory pathway for improved protein yield and quality.”
