Seattle-based biotech A-Alpha Bio moved out of the University of Washington's Fluke Hall earlier this month and into just over 11,000 square feet of space in the Fourth & Blanchard building in Belltown.
A-Alpha and its roughly 40-person team moved Dec. 10, and it now occupies about half of a floor in the 25-story office building. The biotech converted the space, as the building is not originally designed to accommodate lab work.
"We were able to do a custom build," said David Younger, co-founder and CEO of A-Alpha. "For the last year, we gutted the floor and rebuilt exactly to our specification."
A-Alpha was founded in 2017 at UW's Institute for Protein Design and the Center for Synthetic Biology. The company generates protein-interaction data. Younger said proteins function by sticking together, and understanding how proteins interact can lead to new treatments.
Although the company's internal work is focused on oncology, Younger said it does disease-based work through partnerships. A-Alpha in September 2021 raised a $20 million Series A round led by Madrona Venture Group.
Younger said A-Alpha chose Belltown because of the range of commuting options, and that the biotech was looking at a space in Ballard before choosing someplace more centrally located. He added that the space is close to good food and coffee options, as well as other biotechs in areas like South Lake Union.
All but five of A-Alpha's employees are based in Seattle. Younger said the company will likely keep that general ratio as it grows, adding that much of A-Alpha's work is in the lab. The biotech more than doubled its headcount over the past year, Younger said, and it will likely add about 10 people over the next six months to a year.
Looking ahead, Younger said the company plans to advance its internal work and forge more partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, and he's curious to see if there's a sense of community in the new building.
"One of the things we loved about Fluke Hall was the access to different companies," Younger said. "Especially as a very early-stage company, you rub elbows with a lot of people who are thinking about the same things. That community was really fun."
