MindRank Secures $52M Series B Funding to Advance AI-Driven Oral GLP-1RA into Phase III Clinical Trials

On July 8, 2026, MindRank, an AI-driven innovative drug R&D enterprise, officially announced that it had completed a cumulative $52 million in Series B financing in stages. This round of financing brought together multiple renowned investment institutions and industry funds, which not only underscores the capital market’s high recognition of the company’s AI drug discovery platform capabilities and clinical pipeline progress, but also injects new momentum into the clinical translation and commercial implementation of China’s AI drug development sector.

MindRank’s Series B financing round was implemented in stages, raising a cumulative total of $52 million. The investor consortium includes several well-known venture capital firms and strategic industry investors.

To date, the company has completed four rounds of public financing, with a clear fundraising history: in May 2021, it closed a RMB 45 million angel round led by Sherpa Medical Fund; in December 2021, it secured a tens-of-millions-of-US-dollars Series A round co-led by Huagai Capital and Sinopharm Capital (Songhe Capital); and in July 2023, it completed a US$ 20 million Series A+ round led by Xeno Capital, further strengthening its financial backing.

The funds raised in this offering will be focused on three core areas: first, iteratively upgrading the self-developed AI drug discovery engine MAP to refine the multi-agent collaborative R&D system and close the loop with clinical data; second, advancing the Phase III clinical trials of the core oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) MDR-001 while simultaneously laying the groundwork for commercialization; and third, supporting the development of other innovative pipeline candidates to continuously enrich the product portfolio.

MDR-001 is an orally administered small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist independently developed and AI-assisted in design by MindRank, with indications covering obesity and type 2 diabetes. According to the company’s disclosure, this product is the first AI-enabled Class I innovative drug in China to advance to Phase III clinical trials.

Compared to the average 8–10-year timeline from project initiation to Phase III clinical trials for traditional novel small-molecule drugs, MDR-001 achieved this critical milestone in just 4.5 years, with cumulative R&D expenditures from project initiation through Phase III controlled at approximately $23 million. This fully demonstrates the core advantages of AI-enabled drug discovery in enhancing efficiency and controlling costs, while also validating the practical translational capabilities of the company’s AI platform.

Phase IIb clinical data disclosed by the company in 2025 demonstrated that MDR-001 possesses outstanding safety potential among peer investigational drugs: after 24 weeks of treatment, the mean weight reduction in subjects reached up to 10.3%, with nearly half of the subjects achieving weight loss exceeding 10%; no treatment-related serious adverse events were reported during the study, and the discontinuation rate due to adverse events was only 0.8%, indicating excellent overall tolerability.

In February 2026, MDR-001 completed the dosing of the first subject in the Phase III MOBILE study. This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial plans to enroll approximately 750 subjects across about 50 clinical sites in China, aiming to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of the drug and provide core clinical evidence for subsequent marketing approval applications.

MindRank has completed the development of MAP (Molecule Arts Platform), a multi-agent-driven pharmaceutical engine.

The platform establishes an integrated “AI + wet and dry lab” system featuring multi-agent collaboration and closed-loop linkage with clinical data, enabling agents to continuously learn, validate, and iteratively evolve within industrial R&D scenarios. Driven by the dual engines of data and algorithms, it consistently delivers high-value innovative drug candidates.

To date, MindRank has filed over 200 patent applications and accumulated clinical trial data from 1,300 cases. The company is currently advancing the deployment of its proprietary multi-agent system and large language model across all scenarios of new drug development, further enhancing the efficiency of AI-enabled drug discovery, preclinical research, and clinical development, thereby strengthening its technological barriers.

In March 2025, MRANK-106, a drug independently developed by the company, received clinical trial authorization from the U.S. FDA. This oral dual WEE1/YES1 kinase inhibitor is disclosed by the company as the first-in-class candidate to enter clinical development. A Phase I clinical study is planned for patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors. Preclinical data demonstrated that MRANK-106 exhibited robust activity in multiple solid tumor models, including pancreatic cancer, small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. Its safety and efficacy will be further evaluated in the upcoming Phase I clinical trial.

MindRank was established in 2020. Its core team members hail from leading pharmaceutical companies in China and abroad, as well as internationally prominent AI-driven drug discovery firms. The founder, Niu Zhangming, brings over a decade of overseas academic and industry experience, and the team possesses extensive interdisciplinary expertise in both artificial intelligence technologies and new drug research and development.

As AI technology continues to penetrate deeper into the field of new drug development, the efficiency and cost advantages of AI-enabled drug research and development are gradually becoming apparent. Leveraging its core platform technologies and leading pipeline layout in clinical stages, MindRank is poised to build differentiated competitiveness during the commercialization phase of AI-driven pharmaceuticals, providing more innovative treatment solutions for unmet clinical needs.。