A product by Optagon LabsETH ZürichUniversity of California, Berkeley

Design SuperiorProducts WithPhysics-Driven Simulation

A design assistant that helps you create and test thousands of product digital twins.

Co-optimize multiple features simultaneously by finding the right molecular composition and processing parameters.

Combining precision engineering designwith deep molecular reasoning

Backbond builds a digital twin of every version of your product

Micro-textured faceOpen-pore bodyDense reinforcementCyclic loadSubcutaneous pocket

It simulates each one on multiple levels, with the mechanisms that govern them

Reasoning levels
Layer physics
Surface physics
Morphology
Environment
Mechanisms
Mechanics
Transport
Degradation
Host response

It ranks them by what they will do, and by how sure it is

Top 5 of 250 designs
DesignIngrowthStrengthFibrosisScore±
Version 10.91± 0.04
Version 20.88± 0.13
Version 30.85± 0.08
Version 40.82± 0.05
Version 50.79± 0.15

Thousands of versions, simulated in minutes, and the few worth testing.

Define your specs. Design a digital twin that hits them all at once

01

You write the brief

Every target, every hard limit, and the parameters the engine is allowed to move. In your units, on your process.

High-protein meal replacement with GLP-1 for weight loss

Define all your targets

all at once
  • Solubility≥ 95%
  • Solubilization time≤ 30 s
  • Viscosity180–220 cP
  • Mouthfeel≈ SKU-112
  • GLP-1 bioavailability≥ 80% of oral
  • Shelf life≥ 18 mo

Set all the constraints

hard bounds
  • Cost < $1.80 / serving
  • California compliant
  • No gums
  • US suppliers only

Set the parameters you would like to move

  • Protein content
  • GLP-1 content
  • pH
  • Fiber content
  • Emulsifier type
  • Emulsifier conc.

The current trial and error process

(up to several years)

Brief

Lab trials

Spec 1 missed

Reformulate

Spec 2 missed

Reformulate

Regulatory check

Scale-up

Unscalable

Reformulate

Launch

Optagon Labs process

(weeks)

Brief

Simulation + few validation experiments

Risk-free launch

Technology

The breakthrough technology behind Backbond

Backbond is powered by powerful algorithms designed to excel at the industrial level, where data is thin and messy, the problem is complex, and the chemistry is being steered to achieve product specs.

01

Breakthrough in knowledge representation

Creates a molecular digital twin of the product, even when very little data is available. It collects contextual knowledge of your product, understanding all the chemical and physical mechanisms that govern it.

02

Novel chemistry-to-property predictor

Links the coupled chemistry to technical properties (viscosity, tensile strength). It understands how tens of parameters interplay in shaping the properties, which ones matter most, and in which contexts.

03

Novel statistical optimizer

Understands where knowledge gaps exist, what is uncertain, and which experiments improve accuracy, based on its understanding of the chemistry.

04

Engineering context transfer algorithm

An algorithm that understands the molecular digital twin at the lab scale and at the industrial scale. It ties scale-up performance to the ingredients used and fixes the formulation to achieve the right quality at industrial scale.

05

Multi-agent AI scientists

An architecture of AI scientists that think through technical properties, manufacturing, regulations, and supply chain simultaneously.

06

Intelligent connected database

Links all your data through complex scientific relationships, so every molecule's role is understood in any context. Continuously refreshed with the latest literature, market and supplier data.

The products

Two products, one engine

01

Optagon Investigate

Connect every paper, lab report and data sheet you own, and Backbond links the hidden intelligence inside them scientifically. You can then synthesise answers from real evidence and deep reasoning, answers that exist in no single document.

02

Optagon Design

Hand it every spec at once, including the ones that fight each other, and Backbond searches the molecular space for the few formulations that satisfy all of them. You walk into the lab to confirm, not to search.

Use cases

Backbond lets R&D teams solve complex business challenges

01

Conflicting properties

Balance conflicting technical properties by finding the right components and processing setup.

02

Stalled projects

Complete a complex project that has stalled for years because of conflicting properties.

03

New material validation

You developed a material or a component and want to validate it in certain applications, fast.

04

Manufacturer switch

Your recipe is produced at a certain manufacturer, but you want to switch to one with different equipment. Reformulate in days.

05

Cost spikes

A component's cost increased and you want to find an alternative while keeping everything else unchanged.

06

Recipe replication

Replicate a competitor's formulation or a known patented one with different components.

07

Lab-to-plant transfer

The lab process and the industrial process work in different ways. Find the formulation that transfers without loss in quality.

08

Regulatory change

A component gets restricted in one of your markets. Reformulate to stay compliant without changing what the customer experiences.

09

Claim extension

Take a winning product to a new claim, such as sugar-free, vegan, or compostable, without redeveloping it from scratch.

10

Discontinued supply

A supplier discontinues a component. Qualify a replacement before your stock runs out.

11

Gold-standard match

Match a legacy gold-standard batch whose know-how left with a retiring scientist.

12

New customer process

You developed a working recipe, but the customer runs a different manufacturing process. Tweak the recipe to fit their line.

13

Footprint reduction

Cut the carbon or water footprint of a recipe while holding performance and cost where they are.

14

Molecule positioning

Show exactly where your molecule wins: which applications, at which loadings, against which alternatives.

+100s

other business problems, solved in days.

Who it is for

Backbond helps scientists dominate their industry

Time and resources are limited. You can only test a few designs before a deadline, and development is sequential: you validate one spec at a time.

Simulate and validate every version of your product, own the one that beats the market on every aspect, and simulate the full validation and scale-up pipeline.

Startups

Iterate, test and expand with the research capacity of a company 100x your size.

Formulate your ingredient into your customers' own applications, prove exactly where it wins and where it does not, and answer a formulation request while your competitors are still sampling.

Ingredient companies

Sell fast, and never lose a deal on an ingredient that was never fully explored.

Pull every department's knowledge into one design, carry every constraint and every past trial into the search, and know which programmes deserve the lab before the quarter starts.

Large industrials

Compress a validation that crosses ten departments into a single pass.

Specify your formulation with real targets instead of a brief, simulate what your contract manufacturer sends back, and know whether it is the best version or the first one that passed.

Small brands

Compete with brands that own laboratories, without owning one.

Take an idea to a formulation a factory can actually run, simulate the equipment, the cost and the shelf life before you commit, and arrive at your manufacturer already holding the answer.

Aspiring brands

Launch in months instead of years.

Narrow every brief to a shortlist before the first experiment, hand clients the reasoning behind each candidate, and run more programmes in parallel than your bench allows.

Research contractors

Sell the capacity of a team several times your size.