Willem P.C. Stemmer
Encyclopedia
Willem P.C. Stemmer has repeatedly invented technologies that have led to successful companies and products. Before, he founded Avidia after inventing its Avimer technology. In 1997, he founded Maxygen
to commercialize the DNA shuffling
technology, now called Molecular Breeding, which led to the founding of both Verdia and Codexis. Prior to Maxygen, he was a scientist at Affymax where he invented DNA shuffling technology. Before that, he worked on antibody fragment engineering at Hybritech.
He completed post-doctoral work on phage display of random peptide libraries and antibody fragment expression in E. coli with Prof. Fred Blattner at the University of Wisconsin. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin for his work on bacterial pili/fimbriae involved in host-pathogen interaction. He has over 60 research publications and over 80 issued patents. His portfolio of patents from Maxygen was ranked as the #1 portfolio in pharma/biotech for 2003 by M.I.T.'s Technology Review, and #2 in a review of the 150 largest pharma and biotechnology companies by The Wall Street Journal in 2006. He received the Doisy award, the Perlman award, and the NASDAQ VCynic award, and has given over 250 invited presentations.
In 2011, Stemmer was honored with the Charles Stark Draper Prize
, the nation’s top engineering honor, for the pioneering contributions to “directed evolution
”. It is a process which allows researchers to guide the creation of certain properties in proteins and cells. This enables solutions in such areas as food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, toxicology, agricultural products, and biofuels, among others.
Willem P.C. Stemmer is currently the CEO of Amunix.
Maxygen
Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...
to commercialize the DNA shuffling
DNA shuffling
DNA shuffling is a way to rapidly propagate beneficial mutations in a directed evolution experiment. It is used to rapidly increase DNA library size. -Procedure:DNAse I is first used to fragment a set of parent genes into pieces of 50-100 bp in length...
technology, now called Molecular Breeding, which led to the founding of both Verdia and Codexis. Prior to Maxygen, he was a scientist at Affymax where he invented DNA shuffling technology. Before that, he worked on antibody fragment engineering at Hybritech.
He completed post-doctoral work on phage display of random peptide libraries and antibody fragment expression in E. coli with Prof. Fred Blattner at the University of Wisconsin. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin for his work on bacterial pili/fimbriae involved in host-pathogen interaction. He has over 60 research publications and over 80 issued patents. His portfolio of patents from Maxygen was ranked as the #1 portfolio in pharma/biotech for 2003 by M.I.T.'s Technology Review, and #2 in a review of the 150 largest pharma and biotechnology companies by The Wall Street Journal in 2006. He received the Doisy award, the Perlman award, and the NASDAQ VCynic award, and has given over 250 invited presentations.
In 2011, Stemmer was honored with the Charles Stark Draper Prize
Charles Stark Draper Prize
The National Academy of Engineering annually awards the Charles Stark Draper Prize, which is given for the advancement of engineering and the education of the public about engineering. It is one of three prizes that constitute the "Nobel Prizes of Engineering" - the others being the Academy's Russ...
, the nation’s top engineering honor, for the pioneering contributions to “directed evolution
Directed evolution
thumb|250px|right|An example of a possible round to evolve a protein based fluorescent sensor for a specific analyte using two consecutive FACS sortings...
”. It is a process which allows researchers to guide the creation of certain properties in proteins and cells. This enables solutions in such areas as food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, toxicology, agricultural products, and biofuels, among others.
Willem P.C. Stemmer is currently the CEO of Amunix.