Qrativ Files for IPO to Advance AI-Driven Rare Disease Drug Discovery Platform Darwin.ai
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Mayo Clinic, ranked No. 1 in the United States, has recently joined forces with nference to establish an AI startup—Qrativ, committed to integrating clinical expertise with artificial intelligence to advance new drug development.
Furthermore, during its latest Series A financing round, Matrix Capital Management, Matrix Partners, and the Mayo Clinic have invested $8.3 million in Qrativ to support itsR&D of Rare Disease Drugsambition.
Mayo Clinic, USA (Image source: fiercebiotech)
In fact, in recent years, startups focused on new drug development have also possessed technologies similar to the Qrativ platform, capable of scanning medical literature for matches with drug targets, but their R&D outcomes have been less than ideal. The Mayo Clinic is the top-ranked healthcare institution in the United States in terms of comprehensive medical strength, and itsRobust Expertise and Clinical DataThis remains beyond the reach of many healthcare institutions. Unlike other new drug R&D enterprises, Qrativ has direct access to Mayo Clinic’s expertise and clinical data, a distinct advantage that will significantly propel Qrativ toward new breakthroughs in drug development.
In addition, nference, the company collaborating with Mayo Clinic on this initiative, is primarily dedicated to leveraging its artificial intelligence software platform, nferX, to integrate biomedical knowledge that is growing exponentially. Founded by Dr. Murali Aravamudan and Dr. Venky Soundararajan, the company boasts a leadership team of entrepreneurs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School.
The AI software platform nferX, developed by Nference, utilizes advancedNeural Network(shallow and deep learning models), automatically extract knowledge from commercial, scientific, and regulatory literature, thereby enabling diverse applications in R&D, strategy, and operations within the life sciences ecosystem.
Qrativ’s Operational Architecture (Image source: Qrativ official website)
This time, Qrativ will combine with nference based onAI's Knowledge Integration Platform and Mayo Clinic's Medical Expertise and Clinical Data, developed aDarwin.ai Drug Therapy Platform, facilitating systematic drug development, particularly the R&D of new drugs for rare diseases.
Qrativ’s partners can leverage the Darwin.ai drug therapy platform to identify all potential uses for candidate drugs, including determining potential indications for rare diseases and pinpointing patient subpopulations most likely to respond optimally to a given candidate. Through these partnerships, Qrativ maximizes the potential of each drug therapy to benefit more patients and treat a broader range of diseases.
Dr. Murali Aravamudan, Co-founder and CEO of Qrativ and nference, stated: “Over the past three years, the field of AI has achieved significant breakthroughs in deep learning neural networks, driving immense research momentum. Our core technology, based on ensembles of neural networks, holds promise for identifying novel disease-drug, drug-gene, and other treatment-related associations from the vast body of biomedical literature. We believe that AI can significantly accelerate drug discovery and development.”
To date, successful examples of leveraging artificial intelligence to identify potential new indications for drugs remain rare in the current drug development landscape.
Dr. Andrew Badley, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Qrativ, stated, “Qrativ’s innovation lies in integrating Mayo Clinic’s clinical observations and needs with robust informatics capabilities. By comprehensively considering genomic predictors of both desired therapeutic responses and unwanted toxicities, Qrativ can more rapidly identify potential drug candidates. This will enable us to leverage nference’s big data capabilities to define highly targeted patient populations, and then utilize the clinical expertise of Mayo Clinic physicians to design and implement optimal proof-of-concept studies to address unmet patient needs.”
References:
http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/tech/632093.htm
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-nference-launch-a-startup-to-discover-develop-treatments-for-diseases-with-unmet-medical-need/
http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/mayo-clinic-startup-raises-series-a-round-for-ai-driven-r-d
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/qrativ-founded-by-mayo-clinic-nference-to-identify-rare-disease-drug-opportunities/81254651