Terra Bioforge is a microbial strain engineering company leveraging next-generation synthetic biology tools to overexpress genetically encoded bioactive compounds for multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical and agrichemical markets.
With $1M in 2024 revenue, Terra’s lead asset targets recombinant cyclosporine—a $3.3 billion immunosuppressant market projected to exceed $8 billion by 2032. By reducing cost of goods sold (COGS) from 65% to 30%, Terra unlocks $3 billion in industry profit potential and up to $270 million in revenue for the company.
The $700 billion natural products market—spanning pharmaceuticals, agriculture/animal health, and consumer health—faces severe production bottlenecks. Many of nature’s most valuable metabolites are produced in trace amounts, blocking clinical trials and cost-effective manufacturing.
Traditional strain improvement is slow and incremental. Even CRISPR delivers only modest gains in genetically intractable microbes.
Terra Bioforge solves this with a proprietary genomic engineering platform that reconstructs entire biosynthetic pathways, introducing multiple enhanced copies for dramatic yield increases.
Platform Advantages
- 10× faster and more precise than conventional methods
- 10–35× higher titers in fungi
- 10× higher titers in bacteria
- Proven across 150 compounds
Targeting Bacillus, Streptomyces, and fungi, Terra enables scalable, cost-effective production of previously unprofitable billion-dollar therapeutics and agricultural metabolites.
Leadership Team
- David Mead, Ph.D. – CEO & Co-Founder
Serial entrepreneur (Lucigen exit: $70M), inventor of TA cloning ($750M lifetime sales), 63 publications, 11 patents. - Linda Leikness, CPA – CFO
Experienced launch strategist from Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals. - Joel Lirot – VP Business Development
20+ years in natural products commercialization. - Jim La Clair, Ph.D. – CSO
25 years leading complex medicinal chemistry projects and product launches.
Scientific Leadership & Advisors
- Benjamin Knox, Ph.D.
Fungal technology expert - Mark Liles, Ph.D.
Co-founder, academic leader in ag biotech - Neil Kelleher, Ph.D.
Co-founder - Nancy Keller, Ph.D.
Co-founder, pioneer in fungal genetics, UW Professor - Kenton Shultis – Board Member
Pharmaceutical manufacturing expert
The team combines proven entrepreneurial success, deep scientific expertise, and commercialization experience across biotech, pharma, and academia.
Terra Bioforge partners with pharmaceutical and agricultural leaders to deliver high-yield, licensing-ready microbial strains—starting with recombinant cyclosporine.
Key Achievements & Traction
- Industry-first milestone
Produced recombinant cyclosporine with yields matching the native producer—in 3 days vs. 14 and 5× higher purity - Projected improvements
Expected 2–5× further yield gains, delivering $2.7 billion in manufacturing cost savings by 2032 - Customer traction
Strong letters of interest from global leaders including Novartis, Curia, and Symbiotec - Pipeline opportunities
Unlocking compounds like pladienolide ($1B+ anticancer candidate) and engineered Bacillus for $35B fertilizer and $3B agchemical markets
Combining fee-for-service projects with a scalable licensing model, Terra is positioned to rapidly expand across high-value life science sectors.
Terra Bioforge generated $1 million in revenue in 2024 and is on track for similar results in 2025 through its contract research business.
With a track record of engineering over 150 compounds for global clients and leading academic institutions, Terra is now transitioning to a high-margin licensing model.
Lead Licensing Opportunity
- Recombinant cyclosporine
Targeting the $3.3 billion market, with potential for nearly $50 million in licensing revenue by 2029
This shift will drive recurring, high-margin revenue and accelerate profitable scale.
Investment Opportunity
Terra Bioforge is raising $5 million at a $15 million pre-money valuation, building on $3 million prior angel funding that de-risked the platform.
The round will accelerate product development, expand IP, and secure strategic customers (e.g., Novartis, Curia).
Key Milestones
- 2–5× higher titers
- Quadrupled fermentation throughput
- Two new cyclosporine patents
- GMP-ready QA/QC system
- 4–5 paid pilots
- 2–3 licensing deals
These milestones position Terra for significant value creation and a potential acquisition exceeding $300 million.
Terra Bioforge’s platform accelerates microbial production of high-value drugs and bio-based chemicals using proprietary tools:
- MycoDrive™
Leading fungal genomic engineering technology—replicates pathways up to 100 kb dozens of times in months - DNATrap™
Biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) capture - pDUALP™
Advanced expression system
Performance Impact
- 10–20× faster timelines (months vs. years)
- 10–30× higher metabolite yields
- $2.5 million total revenue since 2021 (including $1.2M SBIR grants)
- Current $1.2M Phase II SBIR application to scale recombinant cyclosporine production
Transitioning from contract research to high-margin licensing, Terra is positioned to transform production of titer-constrained compounds across global markets.
| Source | Amount | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Angel Funding | $3 million | Prior to 2021 |
| SBIR Grants | $1.2 million | Ongoing |
