TechBio News 🪩 (I)
Latest Trends: Latent Labs, Algorithmiq, NVIDIA, eXoZymes, Agilisium, ABVC and BioKey, Hill Research and Aikium
Hello everyone! For today’s update:
▶️ TechBio News (I)
Latest Trends: Latent Labs, Algorithmiq, NVIDIA, eXoZymes, Agilisium, ABVC and BioKey, Hill Research and Aikium (and many more)
Latest Trends: Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, SandboxAQ, drug2drugs by Fujifilm, Coeptis Therapeutics, Insilico Medicine, Charles River and Vamstar (and many more)
Latest Trends: Aimble, AI Proteins, Psivant Therapeutics, Nabla Bio, Arpeggio BioSciences, Nano-X Vision, WhiteLab Genomics and Almirall (and many more)
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TechBio News (I)
🪩 Latent Labs Ltd
Latent Labs has just emerged from stealth with $50M in total funding (Latent Labs emerges from stealth to accelerate drug discovery). The funding includes a $40M Series A raise co-led by Radical Ventures and Sofinnova Partners, with the participation of Flying Fish, Isomer, as well as its existing investors 8VC, Kindred Capital and Pillar VC. Angel investors including Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean, AI company Cohere’s founder Aidan Gomez and ElevenLabs founder Mati Staniszewski also took part in the funding round.
DeepMind's AlphaFold solved the decades-old problems of protein structure prediction and showcased how ML can help us understand biology; now, the opportunity lies in advancing and applying the latest generative techniques to design proteins from scratch. Latent Labs’ platform does just that: by empowering researchers to computationally create new therapeutic molecules, such as antibodies or enzymes, the AI lab will help partners unlock previously challenging targets and open new paths to personalized medicines.
The start-up that was founded in 2023 by Dr Simon Kohl (a former co-lead at Google DeepMind’s protein design team as well as a senior research scientist on DeepMind’s AlphaFold2) is embarking on a new era of computational mastery over biology and its biggest impact will be in empowering others with Latent’s AI models, creating new antibodies, optimizing existing enzymes and advancing genetic engineering.
🪩 Algorithmiq Inc
On February 12, 2025, Quantum Circuits, Inc announced that its partner Algorithmiq is accelerating new drug discovery by utilizing its full-stack quantum computing system Aqumen Seeker (industry’s first Dual-Rail Cavity Qubit quantum computing system) to detect errors and produce more accurate chemistry calculations (Algorithmiq Uses Quantum Circuits’ Aqumen Seeker for Drug Discovery Advancements). Their recent results provide a proof-of-concept implementation of a scalable quantum pipeline, showing how error-aware quantum algorithms can be applied to tackle one of the most fundamental challenges in drug discovery. Partnering with Quantum Circuits and leveraging their unique dual-rail qubit technology will allow them to further refine and scale these techniques, accelerating real-world impact in pharmaceutical innovation
Algorithmiq (Helsinki, Finland) is a company focused on developing quantum computing software and solutions in life sciences. Their primary goal is to bridge the gap between classical computing and the emerging field of quantum computing by creating tools, algorithms and platforms that enable businesses and researchers to harness the power of quantum technologies. Their DQI, Digital Quantum Interface, is a platform designed to seamlessly connect quantum computers with classical systems, enabling to harness the full potential of both technologies in the most optimal way by utilizing informationally complete measurements, a patented method, allowing them to post- process quantum computation results with cutting-edge classical algorithms like tensor networks on the most advanced HPC platforms.
Integrated with DQI is Aurora, their state-of-the-art quantum chemistry platform based on breakthrough quantum software for molecular simulations in chemistry, material sciences, and life sciences. Aurora enables ab-initio simulations based on quantum mechanics and applies quantum-inspired methods to optimize data-driven solutions in bioinformatics and network biology, pioneering a new framework called quantum network medicine. For example,
🧩 Aurora, IBM and Cleveland Clinic are pioneering the development of quantum chemistry approaches to rationalize and optimize photo-sensitiser drugs for clinical use in photodynamic cancer therapy.
🧩 Algorithmiq has entered into a partnership with Quantum Circuits Inc (QCI) to investigate the reaction rate of the enzyme aldehyde oxidase (AO) in order to accurately predict AO-mediated drug metabolism.
🧩 Algorithmiq and Cleveland Clinic are merging Algorithmiq’s expertise in quantum computation with Cleveland Clinic’s leadership in clinical neurophysiology, aiming to achieve a deeper mechanistic understanding of neurocognitive outcomes after brain surgery for epilepsy.
On November 18th, 2024, Algorithmiq announced a venture with NVIDIA-accelerated supercomputing, aimed at dramatically speeding up the timeline for achieving practical quantum advantage (Algorithmiq to Speed Quantum Computing Advancements with NVIDIA Accelerated Computing). NVIDIA-accelerated quantum platform demonstrated a 300x speedup of Algorithmiq’s Tensor Network Error Mitigation (TEM) solution, marking a significant performance boost in quantum error mitigation.
Sphere Fluidics is providing instruments and consumables for single cell analysis and isolation (built upon picodroplet microfluidic technology) such as:
1️⃣ Cyto-Mine® Chroma is a multiplexing-capable, fully-automated single cell analysis platform that can encapsulate, analyze, sort, and dispense viable single cells.
2️⃣ Cyto-Mine® simplifies and accelerates the entire cell line development process, from cell encapsulation and assay integration to monoclonality assurance and high-throughput screening.
🪩 NVIDIA Corp.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ) continues to push the boundaries of AI and accelerated computing, making groundbreaking strides in medical imaging, genomics, drug discovery and AI-powered robotics. This impact was recognized at the Precision Medicine World Conference (PMWC) in Santa Clara, California (February 5-7 2025), where NVIDIA’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, received the prestigious Luminary award for his contributions to advancing precision medicine (NVIDIA AI Revolution in Healthcare: Jensen Huang Honored for Transforming Precision Medicine).
Huang predicts that by 2030, AI will have mapped virtually all human cells, leading to groundbreaking advancements such as:
AI-driven tumor modeling, predicting the best treatment options.
Surgical robots performing minimally invasive procedures with unmatched precision.
AI-powered digital twins simulating patient responses to treatments before they are administered.
Robotic labs operating 24/7, accelerating drug discovery.
Nvidia GTC (GPU Technology Conference) is a global AI conference for developers that brings together developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and IT professionals.
🚨 GTC is returning to San Jose from March 17–21, 2025.
You can choose to join them in person or if you join virtually, it’s free. Either way, you’ll see AI in action, and hear the latest from experts at the forefront of innovation.
To help you build your agenda, check out this playlist of the sessions.
Don't miss NVIDIA CEO and Founder, Jensen Huang’s keynote on March 18 at 6 p.m. CET, where he'll spotlight the latest breakthroughs.
You’ll also be able to sign up for numerous hands-on, instructor-led training workshops throughout GTC from the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI). Training is offered both virtually and onsite.
👉 Register now, if you’re planning to join in person, this link will give you 25% off your ticket. Use code NV494TF2 at checkout.
🪩 Publicly traded Invizyne Technologies is renaming itself eXoZymes
On February 12, 2025, Invizyne Technologies, Inc announced a corporate name change to eXoZymes, Inc and that its common stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the new ticker symbol of “EXOZ” (Rebranding Invizyne to eXoZymes signifies a sustainable paradigm shift in chemical production leveraging AI-engineered enzymes). eXoZymes will continue to focus on developing its SimplePath™ platform, which applies AI, high-quality enzyme data generation and rational design optimization in the company’s lab to design, test and commercially scale its biosolutions.
eXoZymes (meaning enzymes combined with AI that can result in exozymes) was founded in 2019 and has developed a platform that (as an historic first) offers the tools to control and optimize nature’s own biological processes, enabling to replace traditional chemical production methods with a new sustainable and non-polluting alternative: Exozymes. The exozymes are advanced enzymes engineered using AI to thrive in a bioreactor outside of living cells. Exozymes can replace toxic petrochemical processes and inefficient biochemical extraction with sustainable and scalable biosolutions, to more efficiently transform biomass into essential chemicals, medicines, and biofuels. By freeing enzyme-driven chemical reactions from the limitations imposed by cellular environments, exozyme biosolutions can eliminate the scaling bottleneck that has hampered commercial success in the synthetic biology (SynBio) space, making exozymes the natural successor to most synthetic biology projects.
While the company, eXoZymes Inc., has introduced “exozymes” (エキソザイム in Japanese katakana) as a scientific concept, they are not trademarking the concept, as they view it as a new nomenclature for wide adoption.
Here’s a breakdown of the exozyme process (for nutraceuticals, biofuels, pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids) across three overall phases:
Engineering Enhanced Enzymes to Become Exozymes
To create exozymes, enzymes are engineered to function efficiently outside cells. This involves using in-house expertise and AI to design modifications that improve their stability, activity and resistance to industrial conditions like high temperatures or variable pH. AI tools predict beneficial mutations, which are tested iteratively in the lab. The result is a set of highly robust enzymes tailored for cell-free systems.Lab Preparation: Expressing and Purifying Exozymes
Engineered exozymes are expressed in microbial hosts such as E.coli or yeast and then purified using techniques like chromatography. These steps ensure high purity and stability, while methods such as immobilization or stabilizer additives may be used to enhance performance. The final product is a batch of scalable, ready-to-use exozymes.Target Production
In the bioreactor, exozymes convert feedstock, such as glucose, into valuable products under carefully controlled conditions. Parameters like temperature and pH are optimized for enzyme efficiency, while integrated systems recycle cofactors to sustain the reactions. The process achieves continuous, high-yield production of bio-based chemicals, bypassing the limitations of cell-based methods.
🪩 Agilisium Consulting LLC Also Known As Agile ISS LLC
On February 12, 2025, Agilisium, a leading data innovation partner for the Life Sciences industry, announced that AWS has recognized it as one of 13 Global Partners with both Generative AI and Life Sciences Consulting competencies (AWS Recognizes Agilisium as one of 13 Global Partners with both Generative AI and Life Sciences Consulting Competencies). This recognition underscores the strong technical capability and deep domain expertise in transforming business processes and delivering long-term customer value. Agilisium transforms the Life Sciences value chain with 20+ Gen AI solutions, accelerated by AWS advanced services
By combining cutting-edge AI and Advanced Analytics they accelerate R&D, improve data quality, and drive faster, data-driven decisions for impactful outcomes. In particular, they are empowering Life Sciences with Next-Gen Data Operations, they are empowering Smarter Decisions with Actionable Insights, they are revolutionizing Content Generation for Life Sciences with Gen AI and they are transforming Life
Sciences with Advanced Data Observability.
The Hyve elevates your drug discovery process by offering open source technologies and expert consulting:
🔩 Open Targets: is a target identification, validation and prioritization user-friendly platform and open-source web tool that seamlessly integrates diverse data sources, providing comprehensive insights at your fingertips. Furthermore, with the Open Targets Genetics Portal, you can unlock groundbreaking associations between genes, variants, and traits using GWAS data, revolutionizing your approach to target discovery.
🔩 Fairspace is a FAIR by Design solution that The Hyve developed. It is an open-source research data management platform that adheres to FAIR principles and it offers a collaborative environment to manage any type of research data, and serves additionally as a metadata repository.
🔩 cBioPortal is an open-source application for integrative analysis and visualization of large-scale cancer genomics datasets.
🔩 BioChatter, an open-source framework designed to transform how researchers utilize their data. BioChatter simplifies the deployment of LLMs in biomedical contexts, making advanced AI capabilities more accessible to researchers and developers.
🔩 The OHDSI suite is an open-source, modular solution that enables organizations to explore 360° patient journeys and turn data into evidence.
🔩 RADAR-base is a modular solution to run your remote patient monitoring study.
🪩 ABVC BioPharma Inc and BioKey
On February 12, 2025, ABVC BioPharma (NASDAQ: ABVC) announced its participation in BioLive's (formerly known as TT Life) Health Talk Event, marking a significant milestone in the company's growth and its role in advancing innovative healthcare solutions by penetrating a new market in Asia (Positive Market Response in Asia Fuels Potential Revenue Growth for ABVC and BioKey, Marching Into Global Dietary Supplements Market of USD 75.35 Billion). The event showcased BioKey's (a wholly owned subsidiary of ABVC) Maitake BLEX 404 Dietary Supplement, a groundbreaking therapy created for cancer combination treatment and to enhance immunity, in an effort to help improve the quality of life for cancer patients.
ABVC is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on innovative treatments in ophthalmology, CNS (central nervous system), and oncology/hematology, and its subsidiary BioKey, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, is strategically positioned to leverage cutting-edge AI advancements in biotechnology. Drawing inspiration from NVIDIA Corporation's innovative projects, BioKey is exploring several AI-driven initiatives to enhance its research and development capabilities: Generative AI for Drug Discovery, AI-Accelerated Genomic Analysis, Advanced Protein Structure Prediction and Integration of AI in Laboratory Automation.
Moreover, on July 9, 2024 ABVC BioPharma announced that after successful Phase II clinical trials of their medication to treat Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), the company and AiBtl BioPharma Inc are working towards a new clinical study on Depression in Cancer Patients by integrating AI-driven solutions (ABVC and AiBtl to Launch a New Clinical Study on Depression in Cancer Patients Using AI). In particular, by integrating real-time patient monitoring and by improving patient analysis using an AI model, they hope to help ABVC increase the lead time for clinical trials using new and advanced treatment protocols.
🪩 Hill Research AI
Hill Research is a Healthcare AI company based in Boston, MA, United States that leverages Generative AI to accelerate the last mile of clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. From trial design to FDA submissions, the company provides end-to-end AI-driven solutions, including intelligent decision support, compliance optimization, and safety predictions. Powered by a multi-agent large language model (LLM) tree, at Hill Research they enable pharmaceutical companies to shorten clinical trial cycles, streamline trial operations, and significantly increase drug approval success rates.
On January 20, 2025, Ruihua Liu who founded Hill Research, presented the groundbreaking capabilities of TheraGPT at the Biotech Showcase during JPMorgan Healthcare Week in San Francisco. (Hill Research CAIO Rui Wu Showcases "TheraGPT" at Biotech Showcase During JPM Week). TheraGPT, by combining the power of generative AI and real-world patient data, enables pharmaceutical companies and CROs to streamline patient recruitment, optimize protocol design and improve predictive modeling for trial outcomes.
With a foundation built on Hill Research’s proprietary large language model trained on 150 billion tokens, TheraGPT is uniquely positioned to address some of the industry’s most pressing challenges such as:
Automatic desensitization of medical information to ensure compliance with regulations using advanced Natural Language Processing techniques,
Extracting clinical information from various sources to support regulatory filings and scientific decisions,
Automating the patient recruitment process for clinical trials,
Automating the preparation of documents for FDA submissions and
Extracting clinical information from various sources to support regulatory filings and scientific decisions.
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🪩 Aikium Inc
Traditional drug discovery programs focus on developing therapeutics for well defined and characterized structural epitopes of drug targets. However, only half the human proteome is structured while the other half is unstructured and existing technologies are unable to develop binders to the unstructured (intrinsically disordered) regions (IDRs). On top of that, a third of all approved drugs are for GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors, integral membrane proteins), which are all mostly small molecules, and come with non-specificity and off-target effects.
More specifically, the N-terminus of the integral membrane GPCRs, which is located extracellularly, are known to be intrinsically disordered and therefore developing antibody-like binders for these regions is a challenge. And here comes Akium by developing a universal approach for targeting these IDRs, which are known to be ‘hotspots’ of biological activity, with their complementary approach to antibody drugs that can open the avenue for combating and treating many debilitating diseases.
Aikium has essentially invented a new protein family called “SeqR” proteins, that they are sequence specific binders, and offer a more nuanced way to modulate the function of the target protein by binding to its disordered regions (The “SeqR”, a Proprietary Non-antibody Scaffold that can Target Intrinsically Disordered Regions in GPCRs). The novel protein binders (SeqR) are targeting the N-terminal disordered epitopes of GPCRs to bind specifically to chemokine receptors, and modulate chemokine receptor pharmacology.
The SeqR pipeline is combining in silico ML, in vitro Synthetic Biology, in vitro protein sciences, in vitro pharmacology and in vitro molecular dynamics forming Aikium’s platform, called Yotta Display, that is an industrialized proprietary variant of mRNA display, which has been previously made to work only in the world of short peptides. Aikium has synthesized more than ten target-specific trillion protein libraries, performed multiple rounds of positive and negative selection, and obtained millions of data points about how SeqR-like proteins bind to GPCR-like targets (Tenant Spotlight on Aikium: A Trillion Shots at Targeting Tangled Proteins).
Yotta-ML² is the platform that enables Yotta (10²⁴), scale machine learning (ML) on massive libraries (ML) of SeqRs (ML x ML), with the world’s only trillion-protein mRNA display for large proteins and patented generative AI based on protein language models, and is able to routinely produce nanomolar binders to disordered epitopes from a wide variety of targets, often where antibody and small molecule based approaches have failed.
Aikium (operating out of the Bakar Bioengenuity Hub at Berkeley, CA., a world-class incubator for life-science startups) has already signed with four partners—three of which are top cancer hospitals—partly based on successes with GPCR targets, which Aikium used as proof of concept for their technology (Aikium's AI-Driven mRNA Engine Looks to Address Undruggable Disordered Proteins).
Queen Mary University of London co-leads £43.6m initiative to accelerate AI-powered cancer breakthroughs
Queen Mary University of London will co-lead a ground-breaking collaboration that aims to harness AI and unlock decades of NHS cancer data. The UK government is committing £18.9M to the project, bringing the total investment to £43.6M when combined with contributions from charities, industry partners, and public research organisations.