36Kr Exclusive: XtalPi Secures $400M Series D Funding Led by OrbiMed, Files Confidential IPO Prospectus

36Kr exclusively learned that an AI pharmaceutical company`XtalPi`has completed a $400 million Series D financing round, led by OrbiMed,China National Biotec GroupA pharmaceutical group co-invested, while early shareholders such as Sequoia Capital and Morningside Ventures continued to increase their investments. According to reliable sources, the post-money valuation exceeded RMB 13 billion.This financing round comes less than a year after the over $300 million Series C round., with financing exceeding USD 700 million within one year, setting a new industry record.

XtalPi is an AI-driven drug discovery company powered by digitalization and intelligent technologies, leveraging cutting-edge computational physics, quantum chemistry, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing to provide intelligent drug R&D services to innovative pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

According to 36Kr, its core technology platform is the ID4 (Intelligent Digital Drug Discovery and Development) intelligent drug R&D platform. By integrating quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing technologies, it accurately predicts multiple critical drug properties. Beyond its initial focus on crystal forms, it now includes indicators such as bioactivity, druggability, and toxicity, thereby comprehensively enhancing the efficiency and success rate of preclinical drug research.

It is reported that, leveraging the ID4 platform, XtalPi has to date helped develop over a hundred small-molecule drug R&D pipelines, with the company leading drug discovery for dozens of projects, the vast majority of which are "first-in-class".

According to Sinolink Securities, the number of small-molecule candidates in the R&D pipeline has continued to grow steadily (with a CAGR of 4.4% from 2001 to 2020). From a long-term perspective, small-molecule drugs will continue to dominate the pharmaceutical market. Given the persistent rise in R&D and production costs, coupled with fluctuating development efficiency, AI-driven drug discovery tools can substantially help pharmaceutical companies mitigate risks.

Additionally, as previously disclosed by the company, the Company has already, includingHuadong Medicine、`3D Medicines`, Singleron, Sige Biotech, Kind Pharma, and other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have partnered on new drug discovery, leveraging AI algorithms to simultaneously drive multiple anti-cancer drug R&D projects, with several drug candidates accelerating into clinical trials.

From a technical perspective, machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing can enhance the processing efficiency of pharmaceutical data and information. In the new drug discovery phase of pharmaceutical R&D, these technologies can compensate for the limited knowledge and imagination of researchers, enabling the identification of therapeutic targets that were previously difficult or even impossible to discover. This represents the greatest value proposition of AI in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, AI can predict the properties of candidate drugs, such as absorption, metabolism, toxicity, and adverse reactions. By narrowing the scope of downstream experimental validation, it reduces the probability of clinical trial failure and significantly lowers both the time and financial costs of new drug development.

Consequently, the niche sector of AI drug discovery has garnered high expectations from investors, such as`Insilico Medicine`、BioMapJust recently, it also publicly announced securing hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in substantial funding. ThisSino Biopharm Group's capital injection into XtalPi validates the industry's recognition of "AI drug discovery".

XtalPiAn LP behind the previous round of investors also to36Kr revealed his personal rationale for "backing" XtalPi:

• First, inAgainst the backdrop of sweeping technological transformations driven by the emergence of big data, AI, cloud computing, and related advancements, the exponential surge in computational power has disrupted traditional drug discovery paradigms, giving AI-driven pharmaceutical companies the opportunity in the future to become likegiant enterprises like water and electricity utilities, and create significant social value;

• Secondly, XtalPi has already achieved near-comprehensive coverage in the small-molecule drug sector, and coupled with years of technological accumulation and a robust talent reserve, the Matthew effect in the industry will inevitably emerge, positioning XtalPi as the undisputed industry leader;

• Finally, from a long-term development perspective, in addition to empowering pharmaceutical companies, XtalPi can also leverage capital to drive vertical integration within the industry, such as by acquiring early-stage innovative drug R&D companies, thereby continuously expanding its business boundaries.

Given the current landscape, XtalPi has indeed implemented relevant integration initiatives, such asPreviously made a strategic investment in the UK biopharmaceutical company PhoreMost, and jointly launch new drug discovery projects, among other initiatives.

36Kr also contacted XtalPi regarding this financing news, and its PR spokesperson stated, “As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on market rumors.”