Thirteen AI-Driven Biotech Companies Secure Fresh Funding in December, File IPO Prospectuses
PDBio
Peptide Innovation Drug Developer
Kimia Therapeutics
Innovative Drug Developer
According to the data monitoring of Zhi Medicine Bureau, in December 2023, a total of 13 AI pharmaceutical-related enterprises worldwide completed a new round of financing, with a disclosed total amount of approximatelyRMB 3.709 billion, an increase of approximately 221% compared to the previous month.
Financing Overview
In December, two AI pharmaceutical companies in China received new rounds of financing, respectively.Chengdu PDBio and Shanghai Dongke Pharmaceuticals, newly established this year`, both of which are focused on the peptide pharmaceuticals field.`
From a global perspective, the majority of investment and financing activities are concentrated in the United States, with a total of 9 events, and the disclosed total amount is nearly$500 million(approximately RMB 3.556 billion); the remaining one financing event each occurred in Canada and India.
There were a total of 8 early-stage financing events. Among them, the 4 seed rounds were all smaller-scale financings; the Series A financings of foreign companies all exceeded 100 million RMB. Building drug discovery platformsKimia Therapeutics, successfully completed its Series A financing with $55 million, showing remarkable results. Kimia Therapeutics was spun off from Carmot Therapeutics (which has been acquired by Roche for $3.1 billion) in January this year.
This month, two companies in the United States completed financing of over 100 million US dollars, coming from machine learning immunology companies,Seismic TherapeuticThe B-round of $121 million, as well as a company focused on precision immune modulators and cancer drugs,Odyssey TherapeuticsThe C-round of $101 million has gathered numerous star investment institutions and large pharmaceutical enterprise resources, including Google Ventures, OrbiMed, and Amgen.
Among the 13 companies summarized,Small Molecule Drug Track and Protein-Related FieldsIt is a hotspot for investment, with enterprises utilizing proprietary drug development and machine learning platforms to cover multiple disease areas and accelerate drug research and development.
The following is a summary of financing events:
Details of Financing Events Over 100 Million RMB
Deep Apple Therapeutics
Round: Series A
Amount: 52 million US dollars
On December 14, Deep Apple Therapeutics, a U.S.-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced that it had secured $52 million in Series A financing from Apple Tree Partners (ATP), a U.S. life science venture capital firm.
Deep Apple was created and incubated by ATP throughVirtual screening of AI-generated virtual libraries for the rapid discovery of novel small-molecule therapies targeting high-value targets。
Deep Apple was established to develop a discovery engine that integrates cryo-electron microscopy, deep learning, and ultra-large library molecular docking screens, enabling the process from target identification to lead compound optimization in less than 12 months (a fraction of the industry-standard time) and achieving biological target signaling that traditional discovery methods cannot reach.
Unnatural Products
Round: A Round
Amount: 52 million US dollars
On December 19, Unnatural Products announced the completion of a $32 million Series A financing round. This round was led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (MGHIF) and ARTIS Ventures, which focuses on TechBio, with other new investors including First Spark Ventures, The Venture Collective, Humain Ventures, LongeVC, and Not Boring Capital. Existing investors also participated in the round.
Unnatural Products focuses on macrocyclic compounds, a class of molecules capable of addressing complex targets that are difficult for traditional small molecules and biologics to tackle. Its platformCombining parallel experiments and machine learning, by designing and synthesizing molecules to mimic natural macrocyclic compounds, thereby creating entirely new drugs.
UNP's AI-enhanced discovery platform is capable of engineering synthetic macrocyclic compounds that mimic those found in nature. The company has constructed a...Intelligent design, rapid synthesis, and screening of cyclic peptide macrocyclic compounds。
Kimia Therapeutics
Round: Series A
Amount: 55 million US dollars
On December 19, Kimia Therapeutics, a biotechnology company generating chemical maps for treating human diseases, announced the completion of a $55 million Series A financing round. The financing was led by The Column Group and Dimension, with Horizons Ventures and individual investors participating. This funding will enable Kimia to expand its ATLAS platform and pursue a wide range of therapeutic targets in oncology, immunology, and inflammation, while continuing to collaborate with Carmot Therapeutics on key metabolic projects.
Kimia Therapeutics is building a platform called ATLASNext-Generation Therapeutic Discovery Platform, which combines AcTive Learning with automated synthesis and screening. ATLAS is powered by a high-throughput nanoliter chemical platform, providing Kimia with immediate access to billions of drug-like compounds. Integrated with proteomics and genome editing capabilities, ATLAS enables Kimia to identify druggable targets and leads against key pathways in human diseases.
Seismic Therapeutic
Round: B Round
Amount: 121 million US dollars
On December 9, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Seismic Therapeutic, a machine learning immunology company, announced the completion of a $121 million Series B financing round. The round was led by new investor Bessemer Venture Partners, with additional new investors including Amgen Ventures, Codon Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gangels, and GC&H. Existing investors Timothy A. Springer, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Boxer Capital, GV, Samsara BioCapital, management, and founders also participated. This funding brings the company's total capital raised to $222 million.
Seismic can further expand its proprietaryMachine Learning IMPACT PlatformThe IMPACT platform "parallelizes" the interdisciplinary components of drug discovery, generating a large number of drug molecules on a large scale. These drug molecules are engineered to better treat autoimmune diseases. The comprehensive integration of machine learning with protein engineering, structural biology, and translational immunology accelerates the design and analysis of a vast array of proteins and protein modifications.
Since the company launched and announced its Series A financing, Seismic has advanced two projects to the IND research stage.
Totus Medicines
Round: B Round
Amount: 66 million US dollars
The company completed a $66 million Series B financing round led by DCVC Bio, with participation from North Pond Ventures, Camford Capital, and the University of Minnesota Board. The Series B funding will be used to advance Totus's clinical programs, expand its product pipeline, and further develop the platform.
Totus Medicines is a company that usesCovalent Library and Artificial Intelligence ToolsA company that is transforming the discovery and development of small molecule drugs.
Totus claims to have the world's most comprehensive covalent chemistry library, which continues to evolve as the Totus platform learns.
In addition, the company is creating and screening human genomes, combining advanced cell analysis with large-scale machine learning, which can transform the revolution of genome sequencing into precise, effective, and life-changing drugs on a large scale.
The company's only clinical drug at present is TOS-358, a highly specific PI3Kα inhibitor.
Odyssey Therapeutics
Round: C Round
Amount: 101 million USD
On December 8, Odyssey Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing next-generation precision immunomodulators and cancer drugs, announced the completion of a $101 million Series C financing round, led by the emerging fund Ascenta Capital, with participation from new and existing investors.
Odyssey Establishes a Headquarters in BostonIntegrated Drug Discovery and Development Platform,By integrating computational and experimental techniques, this unique set of tools enables Odyssey to identify drug targets with the highest clinical potential in a model-agnostic manner. Within just two years, the company has advanced multiple projects from conception to a high-value portfolio of candidate products.
Zafrens
Round: Undisclosed
Amount: 23 million US dollars
Multimodal drug discovery company Zafrens recently announced the completion of a $23 million financing round, led by Prime Movers Lab, with participation from BlueYard Capital, KOFA Healthcare, Global Brains, FoundersX Ventures, Alix Ventures, Possible Ventures, Iaso Ventures, Hawktail, and other investors. The funds will be used to optimize the breakthrough applications of the company's Z-Screen™ platform and advance internal pipelines.
Zafrens is a multi-modal drug discovery company that has pioneered aUltra-High Throughput Platform，Millions of cells can be isolated, cultured, imaged, and sequenced every day. Zafrens' proprietary platform enables comprehensive characterization of different cell populations and directly links molecular profiles (DNA, RNA, proteins) to cell phenotype and function.
Atavistik Bio
Round: Undisclosed
Amount: 40 million US dollars
On December 19, Atavistik Bio, a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering the next generation of precision allosteric therapies inspired by natural human regulatory factors, announced that it had raised an additional $40 million. The funds will be used to advance its leading precision small-molecule allosteric oncology therapy into clinical trials and to further develop its early-stage pipeline.
Atavistik Bio is committed to uncovering hidden functional pockets and discovering transformative allosteric precision therapeutic drugs to meet the significant unmet needs of patients. By combining proprietary screening technology that leverages the body's natural regulatory factors with a powerful artificial intelligence drug discovery platform, it can efficiently identify novel biologically relevant allosteric sites on protein or RNA targets and rapidly apply structural insights to the design of small molecule therapies.
Atavistik has established aMass Spectrometry-Based Screening Platform, using cutting-edge informatics to discover and characterize new regulatory sites. Atavistik is integrating this knowledge with state-of-the-artArtificial Intelligence - Machine Learning, combined with structure-based integrated drug design tools, to discover new treatments.
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