1859

1859 is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of next-generation therapeutics. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California and was founded in 2019 by Devon Cayer (CEO), Andrew MacConnel (CTO), Remesh Ramji (director), and Sara Thrall Cortese (head of strategy and partnerships).

The companies name, 1859, is also the same year Charles Darwin published his paper on evolutionary theory called "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life".

Before founding 1859, Devon Cayer obtained a Ph.D in chemical biology from The Scripps Research Institute, was the principal investigator for Singular Genomics, and previously founded another biotechnology company focused on developing medical diagnostic technologies called MYi Diagnostics and Discovery.

Before founding 1859, Andrew MacConnell obtained a Ph.D in chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute, and co-founded a drug development company called Plexium where he worked as a research scientist.

Before founding 1859, Ramesh Ramji obtained a Ph.D in Bioengineering and biomedical engineering from the National University of Singapore, completed a post doctorate in biomedical/medical engineering at Yale University, and worked as a scientist at the biotechnology company Illumina.

Before founding 1859, Sara Thrall obtained a Ph.D in Chemistry & Biochemistry from the University of Maryland College Park, worked as the vice president & global head of chemical biology for Roche, and the president of Innovative Drug Discovery Consultancy.