Formation
- Incorporated April 2017
- Foundational IP, core team, assets
We’ve Reinvented How Biologic Drugs Are Made
Lumen’s patented technology allows us to use the well-known edible algae, spirulina to make and orally deliver therapeutic proteins.
Patented Technology with Unlimited Potential
The astonishingly high cost of biomanufacturing has long made orally delivered biologics commercially infeasible. That’s no longer true. Lumen’s patented biologic drug platform shortens the development process, reduces costs and risks, and accelerates time-to-market, making us the first company to make orally delivered antibody drugs commercially viable.
- >$185M
- Invested To Date
- 34
- Issued Patents
Funding
- > $185 million in platform investment to date
- The innovative technology has attracted record non-dilutive funding from nearly a dozen U.S. federal agencies, the Gates Foundation, and other leading philanthropies focused on human and animal health
- Collaboration funding from leading global biopharmaceutical companies
Physical Capabilities
- >100 FTEs, including 40+ with MDs, PhDs, and other post-graduate degrees
- Fully integrated, dedicated cGMP production facility with capacity for 15+ kilograms of GMP drug substance per week
- Full-time clinical operations and global regulatory affairs team
- High-throughput strain engineering facility
- Advanced protein engineering and optimization
- Large-scale AI/machine learning–enabled yield optimization
- Onpremises antibody selection and optimization capabilities (hit-to-lead clinic), including advanced in “silico“ and “protein“ engineering and optimization
Intellectual Property
- 34 issued patents
- Issued patents include broad, composition-of-matter claims covering engineered spirulina, recognition that Lumen was the first in the world to engineer this microbe
- Broad continuation claims cover all long-term contemplated products
- 24 other patents pending as of fall 2025
A conventional biopharma company typically builds its team with a fairly narrow set of skills within a single discipline—most often a single disease area. Most drug development happens through contractors like CROs and CDMOs.
Lumen is different.
Like the bold visionaries who exploited the first two waves of cell-engineering breakthroughs (Genentech with E. coli in the 1970s; Amgen with mammalian cells in the 1990s), Lumen is completely vertically integrated. From our facilities in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, our team directly executes nearly all aspects of the drug development process—from hit-to-lead discovery and protein engineering through GMP manufacturing and clinical development.
Close team integration under one roof lets us move much more quickly and efficiently, part of why our development costs and timelines are a small fraction of those of other biopharma companies. It’s also a lot more fun, with big new discoveries happening almost every week.
“Working for Lumen is an exciting opportunity to grow your skillset while also contributing to a technology that can really make a difference and impact so many people.”
Mark Heinnickel
Principal Scientist
Expertise. Ingenuity. Execution.
We’ve assembled a talented group of leaders with deep expertise in synthetic biology, protein design, immunology, photobioreactor engineering, and cell physiology, each with the vision and skills needed to achieve our mission.
Leadership Team
Brian Finrow
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Adaptive Biotechnologies
- AltAir Fuels
- Cooley, LLP
- Harvard Law School
Jim Roberts
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
- Director, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, Basic Sciences Division
- Former HHMI Investigator
- Transformation technology
- Co-inventor of a mammalian cell
Craig Behnke
EVP, Production / Development
- Sapphire Energy
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals
- University of Washington, PhD, Biochemistry
Eric Orse
Chief Financial Officer
- Veteran CFO
- Varolii Corporation
- eCharge Corporation
- Price Waterhouse
Carl Mason
VP, Clinical
- AFRIMS
- Parexel
- Johns Hopkins University, MS, MPH
John Morrow
COO and General Counsel
- Apptio
- Vertafore
- Paymentus
- Venture Law Group / Heller Ehrman
Steve Landas
VP & Controller
- Seattle Genetics
- Cascadian Therapeutics
- Xcyte Therapies
Karina Mounivong
VP, Human Resources
- Nintex
- Varolii Corporation
- ZymoGenetics, Inc.
Kole Krieger
SVP, Business Development
- Absci
- Linfield University
Nhi Khuong
EVP, Preclinical Development
- The University of Chicago
Scientific Advisors
Barry Stoddard
- Member, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Basic Sciences Division
- Structural biology and protein design
Jim Nataro
- Professor and Chair, Pediatrics, University of Virginia School of Medicine
James Lord
- Assistant Member, Benaroya Research Institute Gastroenterology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Richard Guerrant
- Founding Director, Center for Global Health
- Professor of International Medicine, University of Virginia, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health
Scott Hensley
- Associate Professor of Microbiology Penn Institute for Immunology
- University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Alex DePaoli
- Formerly at Amgen
- Practicing Diabetes & Metabolism Endocrinologist
Steven Heymsfield
- Professor Pennington Biomedical Research Center
- Leading metabolism researcher
Stuart Shankland, MD, MBA
- Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Washington
- Former Head of the Division of Nephrology at University of Washington
- Scribner Endowed Chair in Nephrology at University of Washington
David Cummings, MD
- Professor of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology & Nutrition, University of Washington
Board of Directors
Brian Finrow
CEO & Co-Founder, Lumen
Jim Roberts, MD, PhD
CSO & Co-Founder, Lumen
Rob Carlson
Planetary Technologies
Mark Litton
Athira Pharma
Marcos Milla
Samsara BioCapital
Erik Anderson
WestRiver Group
Heather Rosentrater
Avista Development Corp.
Jeff Raikes
Raikes Foundation
Funding Organizations
Lumen’s technology presents a new way to target diseases that conventional biopharma technologies have failed to solve, so we are thankful for the significant funding support we have received from a range of private foundations, NGOs, and government agencies.
Research Collaborators
In many cases the cutting edge of discovery is carried out at non-commercial research institutions like universities and government labs. We are honored to be working closely with so many leaders in their respective fields.
