4s3 Bioscience joins VDC

Susan Windham-Bannister, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and Dustin Armstrong, 4s3 Bioscience

4s3 Bioscience, Inc., an early-stage Massachusetts biotherapeutics company, is moving to the Venture Development Center, its first formal location. The company was founded in 2007 by Dustin Armstrong and Timothy Harris based on the research of Richard Weisbart, PhD, at UCLA.

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency tasked with implementing the state’s ten-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, recently awarded $600,000 to 4s3 to continue developing a proprietary antibody technology that allows for targeted and active intracellular delivery of therapeutics to skeletal muscle.

“By helping early-stage life sciences companies grow we are both creating new jobs and supporting the next generation of medical technologies,” said Governor Deval Patrick. "Our largest life sciences employers were once early-stage companies like this, looking for funding to bring their technologies to market."

Application of 4s3 technology holds promise for treating the underlying causes of muscular dystrophies, myopathies, motor neuron diseases, diseases of the neuromuscular junction, and various enzyme deficiency disorders.

4s3 is presenting on September 15-17 at the Copley Marriott in Boston at the MassBio Investors Forum.

The Venture Development Center is Boston’s leading startup incubator for technology and life science companies.