Q3 2024 Sees $1.33B Raised Across 33 AI-Driven Drug Discovery Companies Globally

According to the data monitoring by Pharma Intelligence, in the third quarter of 2024, globally there were33 companiesAI pharmaceuticals-related companies have completed a new round of financing, with a total disclosed amount of approximately$1.327 billion(Approximately RMB 9.312 billion).

Financing Overview

In the third quarter of 2024, market sentiment in China's AI + drug discovery sector gradually stabilized. Meanwhile, global enthusiasm for AI + drug discovery continued to rise, with BioAge Labs successfully going public on NASDAQ.

Compared to the total financing amount of $2.489 billion in the previous quarter, this quarter saw a decline due to the $1 billion Series A investment completed by Xaira Therapeutics in April, which raised the overall financing amount. Despite individual high-value financing cases, the overall industry financing trend remains stable.

In July, there were a total of 8 early-stage projects, with half of the startups completing seed funding.

Two Chinese AI pharmaceutical companies have received new rounds of financing, including Shanghai-based Innovmab Therapeutics, which is rare in its preclinical ADC new drug pipeline layout.Innovmab Therapeutics, which has completed its Angel+ round of financing.

and Shenzhen'sReviR TherapeuticsThis month, a $30 million Series A round of financing was completed. While CMTRF invested, it also established a strategic partnership with ReviR Therapeutics to jointly advance the research on small molecule-targeted RNA therapies that modulate the expression of the CMT1A pathogenic gene.

From a global perspective,CytoReasonCytoReason, a company specializing in computational disease models for drug discovery, received leading investments from NVIDIA and Pfizer this month. This marks the fourth AI pharmaceutical company NVIDIA has invested in this year. CytoReason chooses to tackle biological challenges in drug development using artificial intelligence.

Founded by ChineseWaypoint Bio and PolyModelsBoth are focused on AI + drug development platforms, accelerating drug development through automation, modeling, and data. They have respectively secured $14.5 million in seed funding and £1.1 million in seed funding.

In the financing round in August, Lithuania'sBiomatternThe company led the way with a seed round of 6.5 million euros. Since its establishment in 2018, it has been committed to utilizing AI technology for drug research and development.

In addition,Outpace BioSuccessfully raised $144 million in Series B financing. This round of funding, participated by renowned investment institutions such as RA Capital Management, QIA, Surveyor Capital, Sheatree Capital, and Black Opal Ventures, is leveraging its advanced AI-driven protein design platform to fundamentally transform cancer treatment methods.

China's "Pharma ChatGPT"Pharmolix, successfully raised nearly 100 million RMB in the combined Angel and Seed rounds. Pharmolix, incubated by Tsinghua University's Institute for AI Industry (AIR), has Professor Zaiqing Nie as its Chief Scientist.

In September, there were 10 financing activities globally, all of which took place in the United States.

ArsenalBioThe company topped the list with a $325 million Series C funding round, which included notable investors such as Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, ARCH, Milky Way Investments, NVIDIA, and Bristol Myers Squibb. This marks NVIDIA's fifth investment this year.

Driven by joint investments from RA Capital and NVIDIASuperluminal MedicinesA Year Later, Another Round of Financing Completed: Utilizing Generative Biology, Chemistry, and Machine Learning Methods to Revolutionize the Speed and Accuracy of Drug Development — Announcing the Completion of a $120 Million Series A Round.

The following is a summary of financing:

Partial Disclosure of Financing Events

Biomatter

Round: Seed Round

Amount: 6.5 million euros

AI Enzyme Design Company Biomatter Announces Completion of €6.5 Million (Approx. RMB 50.71 Million) Seed Funding Round, Co-led by Inventure and UVC Partners

Biomatter was founded in 2018. Laurynas Karpus, the CEO and co-founder, graduated from Vilnius University, worked at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and later transferred to Vilnius University.

The company's core technology platform, Intelligent Architecture™, can simultaneously optimize enzyme activity, specificity, thermal stability, solubility, and other properties, and design enzymes from the bottom up starting from first principles.

Guardoc Health

Round: Seed Round

Amount: 3 million US dollars

Guardoc Health, an AI platform for nurses headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, has raised $3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Pitango, with participation from Bertelsmann Investments, Springbank, and Fresh.fund.

Guardoc Health is an AI-driven SaaS solution integrated with electronic medical records to identify errors, discrepancies, and gaps in real-time clinical charts. This integration facilitates timely corrections and risk reduction, thereby enhancing the quality of patient care.

Pharmolix

Round: Angel Round and Seed Round

Amount: Nearly 100 Million Yuan

Pharmolix Inc. Successfully Raises Nearly 100 Million RMB to Advance Its Core Projects in the Biopharmaceutical Field. This financing round includes both angel and seed rounds, with the angel round led by Huashan Capital, and active participation from Daotong Investment and iFlytek Ventures; Qingzhi Capital provided support during the seed round.

Pharmolix was incubated and established in 2023 by the Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR) of Tsinghua University, with Professor Guoqiang from Tsinghua University and Professor Zaiqing Nie, Chief Researcher of AIR, serving as the Chief Scientist. The company focuses on the development of large foundational models for biopharmaceuticals and a new generation of conversational biopharmaceutical R&D assistants.

Noetik

Round: Series A

Amount: 40 million US dollars

Noetik, an artificial intelligence biotechnology company developing next-generation cancer therapies using self-supervised machine learning and high-throughput spatial data, announced the completion of a $40 million oversubscribed Series A financing round. The round was led by Polaris Partners and managing partner Amy Schulman, with participation from new investors Khosla Ventures, Wittington Ventures, and Breakout Ventures. The financing round also received support from all existing investors, including DCVC, Zetta Venture Partners, Catalio Capital Management, 11.2 Capital, Epic Ventures, Intermountain Ventures, and North South Ventures.

Noetik is a company focused on developing AI models for cancer, established in 2022 and headquartered in South San Francisco. Its two founders are former senior executives of the AI pharmaceutical public company Recursion.

Noetik has developed a cancer biology model named Oncology Counterfact Therapeutics Oracle (OCTO), which is based on 1,000 tumor samples from non-small cell lung cancer patients. The training data includes multiplex protein staining, spatial gene expression, DNA sequencing, and structural markers (such as H&E) from each sample. These data capture complex molecular drivers and tumor-immune interactions across multiple scales and hundreds of millions of cells.

RevolKa

Round: A Round

Amount: 250 million yen

RevolKa Announces ¥100 Million ($700,000) in Funding and Completes ¥250 Million ($1.7 Million) Extended Series A Financing, Co-led by D3 LLC and DEEPCORE Inc.

RevolKa's core technology, aiProtein®, is a directed protein evolution technology that, when combined with AI, has the potential to create high-performance proteins surpassing natural evolution. On July 30, 2024, the company launched its rare disease drug development program, with some candidate drugs in the project having completed positive in vitro proof-of-concept.

PreciseDx

Round: B Round

Amount: 20.7 million US dollars

PreciseDx, an innovative leader in the field of tumor diagnostics, announced the successful completion of a $20.7 million Series B financing round, bringing its total funding to $31.5 million. The round was led by Eventide Asset Management, which focuses on supporting biotechnology and life science companies addressing significant clinical needs.

This round of financing also includes participants such as Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, and GenHenn Capital Venture, as well as existing investors.

PreciseDx is committed to combining artificial intelligence (AI) with itsThe patented Morphology Feature Array (MFA) technology is driving innovation in the field of tumor diagnosis. The company’s technology enables more precise disease analysis, providing unprecedented depth of insight and actionable intelligence for decision-making throughout the entire process of cancer care.

Outpace Bio

Round: B Round

Amount: 144 million US dollars

Outpace Bio Secures $144 Million in Series B Financing, Bringing Outpace's Total Funding to Approximately $200 Million. This Round Was Led by RA Capital Management, with New Investors Including QIA, Surveyor Capital, Sheatree Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Other Undisclosed Investors. Existing Investors ARTIS Ventures, Playground Global, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Breton Capital Ventures, WRF Capital, and Sahsen Ventures Also Participated in This Round.

Outpace Bio, an innovative cell therapy company, is leveraging its advanced AI-driven protein design platform to fundamentally transform cancer treatment methods. The company's core technology enables it to develop engineered T cells with enhanced functionalities, including improved tumor penetration, extended cell persistence, and the ability to counteract immunosuppression.

Healx

Round: C Round

Amount: 47 million US dollars

Healx, a UK-based startup utilizing artificial intelligence to discover new drugs for rare diseases, has successfully completed a $47 million Series C funding round, led jointly by Europe's Atomico and Silicon Valley's R42.

Healx Uses AI to Discover New Drugs for Rare Diseases, Founded in 2014 in Cambridge by Guilliams and David Brown, the company's chairman. Brown was formerly the head of Roche's global drug discovery department and a co-inventor of the well-known erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

The company is currently preparing to launch a Phase II clinical trial for a new therapy developed for Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1, a hereditary disease that causes tumor growth on nerves in humans).

Clarium

Round: Strategic Financing

Amount: 10.5 million US dollars

Medical AI Platform Developer Clarium Secures $10.5M in Strategic Funding Led by General Catalyst, with Participation from Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, Yale New Haven Health, and Existing Investors.

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