MSK Therapeutics Bridge Labs (TxBL)

Bringing commercial drug development expertise to MSK innovators

Drug discovery and development represent a pivotal pathway through which MSK translates groundbreaking research into transformative patient therapies.  For MSK investigators involved in therapeutics innovation, the Office of Entrepreneurship & Commercialization (OEC) offers valuable services through two unique in-house initiatives: Therapeutics Bridge Labs (TxBL), an industry-caliber drug discovery engine, and MSK’s Product Development (PD) team.

Together, these programs are designed to provide the strategic infrastructure; scientific, regulatory, and advisory expertise; and multifaceted resources necessary to advance promising therapeutic innovations from early-stage discovery through clinical development.

Additionally, investigators may benefit from working with other OEC programs, such as the Technology Development Investment Fund (TDIF), the Entrepreneurship Initiative (EI),and the MSK Therapeutics Accelerator.  This comprehensive network of programs, all managed by OEC, are designed to advance and empower entrepreneurship at MSK.

MSK Therapeutics lab members

Leyi Shen, Imke Ehlers-Surur, Peter T. Meinke, Efrat Finken-Groner, David Huggins, Leigh Baxt, Paul Balderes, Olivia Vergnolle, Min Yao, Nora Kostow

The TxBL Value Proposition

Therapeutics Bridge Labs (TxBL), launched by MSK in 2025 and embedded within OEC, represents a unique strategic asset among New York City academic research institutions. 

Designed to accelerate the drug discovery process, TxBL is a mini-biotech embedded within MSK. Its goal is to drive translation of research discoveries from bench to bedside, with an expert team of nine scientists and a comprehensive menu of services comparable in scale and scope to industry.  While not a core facility, TxBL can leverage the capabilities of MSK’s expansive network of core facilities as appropriate, integrating and amplifying institutional resources to maximize impact for MSK’s laboratory and clinical researchers.

TxBL is the successor program to the renowned Sanders Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (Tri-I TDI), which was focused on advancing biologics and small molecule drug discovery and development projects from MSK, Rockefeller University, and Weill Cornell Medicine.  Newly established with a lab on MSK campus, TxBL is fully operational and already managing eight projects—five biologics and three small molecules— leveraging strategies developed during 10+ years of scientific and economic achievement by the Sanders Tri-TDI.

MSK’s Therapeutics Bridge Labs program is led by Peter T. Meinke, PhD, TxBL’s  Director; Imke Ehlers-Surur, PhD, Director, Technology Development and Licensing, Strategic Director; Paul Balderes, PhD, Principal, Biologics Development; and David Huggins, PhD, Principal, Small Molecule Drug Development. TxBL’s team of scientific experts include: Leigh Baxt, PhD, Lead, Drug Development; Efrat Finken-Groner, PhD, Lead, Drug Development; Leyi Shen, Senior Project Manager; Olivia Vergnolle, PhD, Lead, Drug Development; Min Yao, PhD, Senior Drug Development Manager; and Nora Kostow, PhD, Manager, Drug Development. 

two lab members going over research

Leigh Baxt, Efrat Finken-Groner

a lab member conducting an experiment

Min Yao

Addressing Critical Gaps

To keep innovating and evolving, pharma and biotech companies rely heavily on licensing innovative discoveries that emerge from academic laboratories. Unfortunately, most academic institutions lack the resources, time, and expertise to fully move a rudimentary idea—however promising—to a robustly validated target.

TxBL fills these critical gaps, providing a strategic edge for drug discovery and development projects at MSK. The program provides industrial-scale technical support, making it possible to rapidly assess the utility of specific therapeutic targets in disease-relevant contexts and derisk discoveries for licensing, while developing the type of data packages that enhance commercialization potential and value.

With the addition of this new program to the MSK Commercialization Ecosystem, OEC has provided laboratory and clinical researchers with a game-changing set of advantages, since TxBL can:

  • Accelerate MSK drug development by providing capabilities that would otherwise require external partnerships;
  • Centralize drug development infrastructure to create economies of scale and knowledge sharing;
  • Fill gaps in expertise, funding, and infrastructure that limit academic drug discovery;
  • Derisk innovations for licensing by generating the comprehensive data packages that industry partners require;
  • Expand asset pipeline and enable new revenue streams through enhanced commercialization success;
  • Fuel newco creation at MSK by providing the technical foundation for startup formation;
  • Keep innovating and evolving, ensuring that MSK's drug development efforts stay at the cutting edge.

Comprehensive Drug Discovery Capabilities

TxBL’s scientific team brings extensive experience from industry and academic research institutions, uniting top-tier expertise, rigorous industry standards, and a bold commercial vision. With a primary focus on biologics, TxBL can provide full laboratory capabilities, including:

  • Protein and cell line production;
  • Antibody engineering;
  • Antibody generation;
  • Bioanalytics;
  • Assay development and screening;
  • CAR-T Platform;
  • Medicinal chemistry.

Additionally, TxBL offers the capability to support some small-molecule projects through specific services including assay development and screening, medicinal chemistry, and computational chemistry.

TxBL works with MSK investigators through various engagement models tailored to project needs, including: 

  • Fully integrated projects: Comprehensive partnerships where TxBL provides sustained, multi-disciplinary support;
  • Ad hoc consultations: Strategic guidance on specific technical or commercial questions;
  • Other customized project arrangements

How and When to Reach Out to TxBL

2026 represents a transitional year following TxBL's establishment at MSK. With eight projects currently in its pipeline, the team plans to onboard three-to-four new projects during its first year of operation—with a target of three biologics projects and one small molecule.  The TxBL pipeline will expand moving forward.

MSK investigators should reach out to TxBL when:

  • Early-stage therapeutic targets need validation and derisking before pursuing external funding or partnerships;
  • Projects require industrial-scale biologics capabilities not typically available in academic laboratories;
  • Comprehensive data packages are needed to enhance licensing potential and valuation;
  • Antibody discovery, engineering, or optimization is required to advance therapeutic concepts;
  • CAR-T development expertise would accelerate translational goals;
  • Small-molecule projects require assay development, medicinal chemistry, or computational chemistry expertise;
  • Seeking partners for collaborative drug discovery initiatives;
  • Exploring the feasibility of a therapeutic concept in confidential preliminary discussions.

Project Selection: Potential TxBL projects will be evaluated and advanced through a rigorous, strategically integrated review process, based on criteria that focus on three critical dimensions:

  • Innovation: Does the project represent a novel therapeutic approach with potential to address unmet medical needs?
  • Commercial potential: Is there a clear path to licensing, partnership, or company formation?
  • Probability of achieving technical success: Given the current state of the science and TxBL's capabilities, what is the likelihood of advancing this project to meaningful milestones?

Tip:  Early consultation with the TxBL team enables optimal project planning and resource allocation. The team welcomes exploratory conversations to assess fit and discuss potential collaboration models—all within a framework of complete confidentiality.

Synergy Between TxBL and Product Development (PD)

TxBL and PD work synergistically together to help drug discovery and development projects advance at MSK. The close collaboration between these two initiatives creates a powerful continuum of support that spans the entire drug development lifecycle. TxBL's focus on early discovery, target validation, and biologics development complements PD's expertise in preclinical development, manufacturing, and regulatory strategy.

This integrated model addresses a common challenge in academic drug development: the fragmentation of expertise and the difficulty of maintaining strategic coherence as projects transition between development phases. By coordinating closely under OEC's leadership, TxBL and PD ensure smooth handoffs, consistent strategic direction, and optimal resource deployment. An investigator's project can begin in TxBL for target validation and lead optimization, then transition seamlessly to PD for IND-enabling studies and regulatory submission—all while remaining within the supportive MSK Commercialization Ecosystem.

Contact Us

For more on TxBL, contact Dr. Meinke at [email protected].

For more on the OEC Product Development team, contact [email protected].