Kernal Biologics, Inc., a venture-backed biotechnology company pioneering in vivo cell therapies through AI-driven mRNA design, has announced its relocation to Lilly Gateway Labs (LGL) in Boston. The move places the company within the Eli Lilly and Company Seaport Innovation Center, a shared innovation accelerator designed to support early-stage biotech startups with state-of-the-art lab facilities, scientific collaboration, and strategic guidance. Lilly Gateway Labs offers selected companies access to Lilly’s global network of scientists, researchers, and executives, along with shared infrastructure, operational support, and tailored engagement programs—all while allowing startups to maintain their independence. Kernal Bio joins a growing community of innovators focused on accelerating breakthrough therapies. “We are honored to join this vibrant innovation hub and advance our therapeutic programs in such a collaborative environment,” said Yusuf Erkul, MD, MBA, Co-Founder and CEO of Kernal Bio. “The Gateway Labs model offers tailored support for companies at our stage, allowing us to stay focused on our scientific mission while benefiting from Lilly’s deep expertise.” The company recently unveiled its proprietary large language model for mRNA design, kernaLMTM, at the 2nd Annual Computational RNA Design & Delivery Summit. The model demonstrated superior performance compared to existing state-of-the-art systems in predicting mRNA behavior and translation efficiency. This milestone led to Kernal Bio’s acceptance into NVIDIA’s Inception program, granting the company access to advanced AI tools, cloud computing resources, and technical support. “Support from NVIDIA and Lilly will help us scale our AI-driven solutions and accelerate our pipeline of transformative therapies,” said Burak Yilmaz, MS, Co-founder and President of Kernal Bio. Kernal Bio is developing next-generation in vivo cell therapies using AI-designed, cell-selective mRNA and targeted lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery systems. The company’s approach enables precise engineering of cells directly inside the body—without genetic editing or the risk of genomic integration—making it ideal for treating autoimmune diseases and blood cancers. Their platform leverages a proprietary machine learning system trained on clinical human data to identify RNA sequence motifs that drive cell-type-specific protein expression. The company’s mRNA2.0 platform combines advanced LNP delivery with intelligent mRNA design to achieve systemic, extra-hepatic targeting of specific cell types, such as T cells. This precision minimizes off-target effects and enhances therapeutic safety and efficacy. Founded by experts from MIT, Harvard, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb, Kernal Bio’s leadership team includes individuals with a proven track record of developing three FDA-approved therapies and over 120 patents. The company has secured backing from prominent investors, including Hummingbird Ventures, Amgen Ventures, HBM, FoundersX, Gaingels, and Y Combinator. For more information, visit www.kernalbio.com or follow the company on LinkedIn and X.