Emma Kaniuk rejects biotech sameness in Audax Biosciences’ rebrand

In 2018, oNKo-innate launched with a name that made perfect sense – a clever reference to Natural Killer cells and oncology that reflected their narrow focus on specific immune system components. By 2024, that same name had become a constraint. The biotechnology company had evolved into something broader, developing immunotherapies for both oncology and autoimmune diseases, but found itself hemmed in by market perception. When they approached Emma Kaniuk & Company with a brief for a new website, the creative director pushed back. They’d launched their current site just a year earlier. Building another website without addressing the fundamental strategic questions would only bring them back to this same place 12 months later. The conversation expanded from deliverables to foundation – new name, positioning, visual identity, and then website. For a self-funded team with long-term ambitions, the investment in clarity made sense. Kaniuk’s approach to assembling the project team subverted typical agency structures. Rather than fitting the work into an existing team, she diagnosed the core needs first, then curated collaborators to match. A science journalist based in Oxford joined the strategy phases to bring a questioning, journalistic lens to the technical work. A copywriting duo in Dunedin, a designer in Sydney, a web developer in Melbourne, a visual artist in Tokyo, an animator from Armenia – each specialist chosen for what they could uniquely contribute. The resulting strategic platform, Radical Science, captured what makes this company distinct: the fusion of deeply creative, unconventional thinking with rigorous scientific pursuit. It gives permission to be both artistic and exacting, visionary and precise. The name Audax Biosciences emerged from this foundation – ‘Audax’ signalling boldness through its Latin roots, while ‘Biosciences’ liberates the company to accurately communicate its expansive reach.