Proteins represent an area of drug discovery and development with huge untapped potential, serving as targets for many therapeutics. However, their use cases are limited by cost and technology constraints of existing approaches. Glyphic Biotechnologies is seeking to remove the technology barriers with its novel protein sequencing platform to enable the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics and provide an enhanced understanding of human biology.

The company's ClickP technology tethers target amino acids in a given protein sequence, making it much easier to identify and process. Yang explained that his company's technology works at single-molecule resolution and will transform the field beyond what is capable with the use of older technologies such as mass spectrometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Yang stated that Glyphic is competing against some of the biggest names in the industry (Illumina and 454 Life Sciences, which was acquired by Roche), but the founders are dedicated to bringing their product to the proteomics market.

Glyphic Biotechnologies is one of 10 semifinalists that have the chance to win $200,000 in cash prizes in the BioTools Innovator accelerator contest, with the list of semifinalists released in late July. All semifinalists are assigned a mentor and will complete a curated curriculum designed to help them secure additional funding and bring their companies to the next level. The field will be narrowed to four companies in early October. The four finalists will present at a live finale on October 14, where the audience will help decide the winner.

Stay tuned and follow along as we get a behind-the-scenes look at these companies as they race toward the finish!

Disclosure note: The BioTools Innovator accelerator contest is sponsored by Research Corporation Technologies and BroadOak Capital Partners, investors in ScienceBoard.net's parent company, Science and Medicine Group.