Sean McClain

Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Absci

Search every verified Sean McClain interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Sean McClain, founder and CEO of Absci, discussed the company’s work using artificial intelligence to accelerate biologic drug discovery in a July 2024 podcast appearance. He described Absci’s origins as a self-funded venture started in his early 20s, initially developing an E. coli-based assay for testing antibodies, before evolving toward AI-driven drug development. McClain stated that the company, now public with around 200 employees and over $530 million raised, aims to bring its first antibody drug candidate targeting TL1A for inflammatory bowel disease into clinical testing in 2025. McClain highlighted the company’s achievements in reducing drug development timelines, claiming that a drug candidate was produced in 14 months and would reach the clinic within 24 months, compared to what he described as a typical five-and-a-half-year process costing $50–100 million. He expressed ambitions for Absci to become “the next Regeneron,” drawing parallels to Regeneron’s historical use of engineered mice to produce human antibodies, while positioning Absci’s AI models as the next iteration of that approach for designing antibodies, unlocking novel biology, and lowering costs.