Galixir Completes New Strategic Financing Round Led by Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund

On August 4, 2021, Galixir announced the completion of a new financing round. Led by the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, the round secured continued support and follow-on investments from all existing shareholders, including Gaorong Ventures, Source Code Capital, Redpoint China Ventures, DCM, Morningside Ventures, and Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI). Mingyue Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this transaction. To date, leveraging its proprietary algorithms and integrating domain-specific knowledge, tools, and expertise in medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, and biology, Galixir has established the Pyxir™ drug discovery platform. The platform has been validated and achieved phased technical milestones. This financing will play a pivotal role in further consolidating the platform's capabilities. The raised funds will be deployed to continuously advance multiple drug R&D pipelines, expand the talent pool, and strengthen core scientific and technological advantages. Galixir will collaborate with its investors to explore the frontiers of novel drug discovery, striving to build a global technology enterprise that leads the integration of biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence.

The commercial launch of every new drug represents a rigorous R&D journey spanning over a decade and a continuous outflow of billions of dollars in expenditure. In reality, more than 90% of drug candidates fail to reach market approval. Long development cycles, high costs, and low success rates remain persistent challenges across the pharmaceutical R&D sector. For decades, numerous innovators have been exploring novel drug discovery technologies. Leveraging its advantages in automation, scalability, and interpretability, artificial intelligence has rapidly emerged as a highly promising new paradigm for drug design.

Founded in 2019, Galixir is a company that empowers drug discovery and development using globally leading artificial intelligence technology. By leveraging cutting-edge AI algorithms and integrating tools and expertise from computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and biology, Galixir has established a comprehensive suite of preclinical drug discovery models spanning drug target identification, candidate compound generation and screening, compound structure optimization, druggability and toxicity prediction, and patent analysis. This integrated approach reduces the preclinical drug R&D phase—which traditionally requires 4 to 7 years using conventional methods—to 12 months or even less.

In a drug design project for an agonist targeting a specific autoimmune target, where traditional computational chemistry methods alone struggle to deliver optimal results, Galixir leveraged its proprietary drug discovery platform, Pyxir™, to conduct a completely novel design. Through rigorous screening integrating artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and biology, combined with synthetic feasibility assessment, three AI-designed highly potent compounds featuring entirely novel scaffolds were identified within one month. Following synthesis and biological evaluation, all three molecules demonstrated high potency (EC50 < 100 nM). One lead candidate achieved an EC50 of < 10 nM with approximately 100-fold selectivity. Validated across multiple rounds of in vitro assays, the candidate exhibited favorable profiles in metabolic stability, absorption and permeability, safety, and efficacy. It showed no inhibitory effects on CYP enzymes or hERG channels, and significant pharmacological efficacy was observed following oral administration at low doses. The project is currently undergoing in vivo toxicological evaluation.

Generally, compared with inhibitors, agonists impose more stringent requirements on receptor binding, meaning that higher molecular specificity is necessary to elicit pharmacological effects. This makes the design of such drugs inherently more challenging, requiring the careful coordination and balancing of multiple parameters within an optimal range to achieve ideal receptor activation. Three candidate molecules selected by Galixir from tens of millions of AI-designed virtual molecules have all demonstrated high activity in preclinical validation. More importantly, the process from target selection and molecular design to the screening and finalization of candidate molecules took only one month, a pace unparalleled by traditional computational chemistry methods. This encouraging result further demonstrates that Galixir’s drug discovery platform, Pyxir™, can effectively balance multiple critical metrics to efficiently and accurately identify target molecules with high selectivity and specificity.

Admittedly, from preliminary preclinical efficacy validation to entering clinical trial phases, AI-designed drugs still require further iteration and optimization. However, their ability to significantly shorten the early drug discovery timeline and substantially improve the hit rate for effective molecules already represents a transformative breakthrough in the field of drug discovery.

Galixir's work in AI-enabled drug research and development has pioneered a new pathway for drug discovery, with its technological capabilities widely recognized by both industry and academia. Currently, Galixir has established collaborations with numerous multinational pharmaceutical companies, publicly listed pharmaceutical enterprises, biotechnology firms, and research institutions both domestically and internationally, continuously exploring the frontiers of drug R&D.

Dr. Li Chengtao, Founder and CEO of Galixir, stated: “Galixir’s vision is to ‘free patients from suffering and make new medicines within reach.’ We are delighted to have received the steadfast support of our investors throughout this innovative journey of AI-driven drug discovery. Drug discovery is a lengthy process, yet it is also one that creates value, drives innovation, and benefits patients worldwide. Through the synergistic integration of artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and biology, Galixir has charted a new path for drug discovery. This enables us to more rapidly identify promising candidates within the vast chemical space that hold the potential to cure human diseases, while leveraging data, algorithms, and computing power to enhance R&D efficiency and success rates, ultimately reducing development costs. Currently, Galixir has completed the development and deployment of its platform and continues to explore broader applications of AI in the biopharmaceutical field. At present, we are independently developing or jointly advancing over a dozen innovative drug R&D pipelines with partners, and have consistently achieved positive results in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Looking ahead, Galixir will continue to push the technological frontier and strive to become a global technology enterprise leading the integration of biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence.”

Wu Wei, General Manager of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund and Lingang Sci-Tech Innovation Investment, stated: "Addressing the numerous challenges faced by traditional drug discovery models, artificial intelligence is empowering the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical R&D industry. As a leading enterprise in artificial intelligence and new drug discovery, Galixir,

"Significant progress has been achieved in a short timeframe. The AI Fund is highly optimistic about its broad development prospects. With Galixir's full-scale establishment in Shanghai, it will partner with Galixir to co-create a new era in drug discovery and development."

Yue Bin, Founding Partner of Gaorong Ventures, stated: "Artificial intelligence continues to make significant strides in the biomedical sector. Gaorong has consistently invested in Galixir since its angel round. We see this interdisciplinary team leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies to tackle challenges in the drug discovery process, and they have achieved remarkable progress. We look forward to Galixir continuing to explore the applications of AI in biopharmaceuticals in the future."

Chen Runze of Source Code Capital stated: “Source Code Capital firmly believes in the immense potential of integrating artificial intelligence technology with vast life science data. The Galixir team has been continuously attracting talent and investing in technological R&D within this interdisciplinary field, achieving significant progress in platform development and pipeline reserves. By continuing to support Galixir in this new financing round, Source Code Capital looks forward to the company consistently pushing technological frontiers and injecting new momentum into the drug discovery and development industry.”

Liu Lan, Partner at Redpoint China, stated: "The integration of AI technology into new drug R&D represents a convergence of cutting-edge technologies from both domains, holding profound significance for human health management. The Galixir team continuously explores the technological frontier, striving relentlessly and collaborating closely with partners to accelerate the R&D pipeline and consistently achieve phased milestones. Our continued support for Galixir in this round further demonstrates Redpoint China's confidence in the company. We hope Galixir will sustain its drive for technological innovation and its passion for value creation, thereby helping to propel the digital and intelligent transformation of new drug R&D."

Zeng Zhenyu, Managing Partner at DCM, stated: "DCM is further increasing its investment in Galixir, reaffirming our strong confidence in the prospects of AI in drug discovery and development. Over the past year since receiving DCM's investment, the Galixir team has demonstrated robust technical capabilities and highly promising commercial prospects. We believe this financing round will propel Galixir to new heights and put it on the fast track for growth. DCM will continue to closely monitor opportunities for AI applications across various sectors."

Jing Xutian, Managing Director at Morningside Ventures, stated: “Congratulations to Galixir on completing its latest financing round. In the just over a year since our investment in Galixir, we have seen the founding team demonstrate exceptional learning and evolutionary capabilities. Alongside technology validation, they have also made solid progress on the commercial front. In today’s era of rapid interdisciplinary convergence, Morningside Ventures continues to closely monitor opportunities for the application of information technology in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.”

Hou Xiaolin, Vice President of BAI Capital, stated: "BAI Capital continues to increase its investment in Galixir, firmly believing that its innovative interdisciplinary approach will enable rapid and accurate molecular drug discovery, positioning it to become an innovative platform company capable of generating novel drug pipelines at scale. We firmly believe that artificial intelligence can empower the trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry, and that the synergistic integration of computational science and life sciences will serve as the new digital infrastructure for drug R&D."

Micky Wang Yutong, Founding Partner of Mingyue Capital, stated: “Mingyue Capital is highly honored to accompany Galixir in completing its latest financing round. The Galixir team has assembled a group of world-leading scientists in the fields of artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. Under the leadership of Dr. Li, they continue to drive industry transformation, explore technological frontiers, and benefit patients worldwide.”

The Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund is China's first provincial and municipal-level AI industry investment fund. As a state-backed, technology-focused industry investment fund, it has already invested in renowned AI enterprises such as LeYan Technology, Deepexi, Galixir, Laiye, and Horizon Robotics. Approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government, the fund was jointly initiated and established by Shanghai Guosheng Group and Lingang Group. Operating as a municipal-level AI industry investment fund, it is jointly supported by financial resources from both municipal and district governments, large state-owned industrial groups, and social capital from financial institutions, and is registered in the Lingang New Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Leveraging investment as a strategic driver, the fund integrates key elements across the AI industry ecosystem. It is committed to becoming a "one-stop" platform that guides the clustering and development of outstanding enterprises, building an industry hub where cutting-edge technologies and application scenarios are seamlessly integrated.

Founded in 2019, Galixir is a company that leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence to empower drug discovery and development. By integrating advanced AI algorithms with expertise and tools in computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and biology, Galixir comprehensively addresses key challenges in the early-stage R&D of small-molecule drugs, rapidly identifying candidate molecules with high potency, favorable developability, and novel structures. The company is collaborating with domestic and international pharmaceutical enterprises and research institutions to advance multiple drug development pipelines spanning various therapeutic areas, including central nervous system disorders, autoimmune diseases, oncology, and respiratory diseases. These pipelines encompass diverse mechanisms of action, such as inhibitors and agonists. By significantly reducing the cost and timeline of individual preclinical drug development programs, Galixir enables the parallel advancement of multiple pipelines and facilitates the optimization of its overall strategic portfolio.