PDLI

Pdl Biopharma Inc

A biotech company that pioneered the humanization of monoclonal antibodies—the technique of grafting mouse antibody bits onto human frameworks so the body won't reject them. That technology underlies famous cancer and immune drugs including Avastin, Herceptin, and Synagis. Founded in California in 1986 by cell biologist Laurence Korn and mathematician Cary Queen, it started as Protein Design Labs, then renamed itself PDL BioPharma in 2006. Fun fact: a mathematician co-founded the firm and helped invent the very antibody engineering that made those blockbuster therapies possible.