Entrega Emerges From Enlight

Enlight Biosciences, a Boston-based maker of drug discovery and development technologies, said today it has formed a new company called Entrega, which focuses on oral drug-delivery techniques. Entrega is working on developing orally-available versions of several types of biologic drugs (a class that includes insulin and antibodies) that are made by Enlight’s pharmaceutical partners and typically require injection. Entrega will receive an undisclosed amount of upfront and research milestone payments from its partners. The company, whose scientific advisory board is chaired by biotech entrepreneur and MIT professor Robert Langer, said it will remain independent and retain all rights to its platform technology. Enlight Biosciences started in 2008 as a collaboration between Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, and Boston-based PureTech Ventures. The firm has since forged partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and Abbott Laboratories.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.