Accutar Biotechnology Secures Tens of Millions in New Funding to Advance AI-Driven Drug Discovery

Investment Circle (ID: pedaily2012) reported on April 7 that AI drug discovery company Accutar Biotechnology (Accutar Biotech) recently announced the completion of a new round of financing amounting to tens of millions of US dollars,YF Capital, Coatue, and 3W Healthcare Fund participated in this investment. Previously, AccutarBio had received funding from IDG Capital,Yitu Technology、ZhenFundHaving participated in multiple financing rounds, IDG Capital led AccutarBio’s Series A financing in 2017 and has continued to increase its investment in subsequent rounds, making it the largest institutional shareholder of AccutarBio at present.

Accutar Biotech, established in 2015, is dedicated to leveraging computational models trained on massive datasets through deep learning and physics-based modeling to replace biological and chemical experiments, thereby significantly accelerating the R&D of innovative drugs. The company has currently deployed AI computing laboratories, biological laboratories, structural laboratories, and chemical laboratories in the United States and Shanghai.

Jie Fan, founder of AccutarBio, earned his Master’s degree in Biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, and received his Ph.D. from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Graduate School of Medical Sciences in 2010. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University. Mr. Fan stated, “AccutarBio’s vision is to leverage AI to comprehensively accelerate and enhance the efficiency of innovative drug development, launch pharmaceutical products with global patents, and become a transformative force that approaches new drug discovery from the perspective of a true tech company.”

Through years of accumulation and refinement, AccutarBio has established a full-chain AI drug discovery platform, integrating all stages of preclinical small-molecule drug development, including virtual screening, property prediction, retrosynthetic analysis, lead optimization, and drug repurposing.

Leveraging its proprietary AI-driven drug discovery platform, AccutarBio can effectively shorten the preclinical research timeline required for drug discovery. Currently, AccutarBio has established a pipeline of more than 10 novel biologics, encompassing first-in-class and best-in-class drug targets. Two of these candidates (for breast cancer and prostate cancer) are expected to enter clinical trials in the United States in the second half of this year, while two additional candidates will submit Investigational New Drug (IND) applications in the United States in early 2022.

YF Capital, the investor in this roundPartnerZhu YikaiIn an interview with 36Kr, he stated: “AI holds significant potential for enhancing the efficiency of traditional new drug R&D and upgrading production methods. The rapid advancement of AccutarBio’s pipeline has already demonstrated the team’s combined expertise in pharmaceutical development and algorithms. With capital support, AccutarBio is poised to become a key player in the transformation of the new drug R&D industry.”

According to Accutar Biotech, the company expects several new drug candidates to enter clinical trials by the end of 2022.

The traditional model of new drug development is characterized by long cycles, high costs, and low success rates. As the value of AI technology in the medical field continues to be validated, leveraging AI to enhance the efficiency of new drug development has emerged as a new industry direction in recent years. In 2020, more than ten companies announced financing rounds, with participation from multiple top-tier investment institutions. Moreover, last year, Baidu, Huawei,ByteDanceTech giants have all announced their entry into the field of AI-driven drug discovery.

In the future, with dual support from capital and tech giants, the AI-driven drug discovery industry may continue to develop rapidly.