TechBio News: Un-locking Data to Transform Biology (II)
TechBio News: Un-locking Data to Transform Biology (II)
Trends on TechBio ⛽: BioPhy, Nucleai, Flagship Pioneering, Codon Capital LLC, Profluent and Backed VC
This week’s update:
TechBio News: Un-locking Data to Transform Biology (I)
Trends on TechBio ⛽: Illumina Ventures, Iktos, Altris AI, Basecamp Research, Blackbird VC, Corrdyn and Tierra Biosciences
TechBio News: Un-locking Data to Transform Biology (II)
Trends on TechBio ⛽: BioPhy, Nucleai, Flagship Pioneering, Codon Capital, Profluent and Backed VC
🔮 NEWS 🔮
DeepMind AI drug discovery spinout Isomorphic Labs issues £182m in new shares
Innovent Biologics Partners with WeComput to Enhance AI Drug Discovery
AI for drug discovery: DrugSynthMC to make finding new medication more efficient
SmartCADD: AI-QM Empowered Drug Discovery Platform with Explainability
Medtech startup brings Oracle AI to bear on cancer drug research
Adnexus Biotechnologies Partners with 1606 Corp. for Strategic Investment to Revolutionize AI-Driven Drug Discovery
BioPhy
BioPhy by leveraging the possibilities of modern science and advanced technologies is committed to transforming the way promising drugs are identified, developed and tested. With the help of their patent-pending predictive AI engine BioLogic, and their generative AI solution BioPhyRx, they work to enhance the outcomes of clinical trials, reduce failure and non-compliance rates, accelerate the pace of developing new drugs, and moreover, improve the quality of healthcare outcomes across the globe.
✳️ BioLogicAI is a predictive intelligence solution that rapidly analyzes clinical trial data to accurately forecast study outcomes, optimizing development and portfolio decisions across the most promising therapeutics.
✳️ BioPhyRx is a proprietary generative AI that provides on-demand scientific and clinical guidance, allowing experts to enhance productivity across regulatory, quality, operational and BD workflows - or can be fine tuned for any organization.
On April 30, 2024, BioPhy announced a partnership with Every Cure, a nonprofit initiative on a mission to unlock the full potential of existing medicines (Every Cure Deploys BioPhy’s Artificial Intelligence Platform to Accelerate its Mission of Repurposing Drugs for Untreated Diseases). Through this partnership, BioPhy and Every Cure will evaluate high value drug-disease matches and drug repurposing opportunities, specifically focusing on the simulation and optimization of clinical trials and their endpoints, aiming to maximize trial success rates and efficient use of capital. Moreover, in 2024 BioPhy was named to Fast Company's World Changing Ideas List and recognized among organizations making a difference in the world.
In 2023, BioPhy received $4M in pre-seed funding led by Clinton's Metrodora Ventures (Chelsea Clinton's VC firm invests in startup that uses AI to accelerate drug development). The founders are Dave Latshaw II, PhD (BioPhy: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Dave Latshaw II, Ph.D. About This Life-Changing Therapy Company), Steve Truong and Daniel Sciubba, MD.
Nucleai
Nucleai is an AI-powered image analysis company in Israel that has access to millions of annotated cells across more than ten types of cancers and through its algorithms can detect and characterize all kinds of tissues and cell architectures. Subsequently, deep-learning models combining spatial features and clinical data can drive the discovery of pathology based spatial biomarkers. In particular, the Nucleai Atom platform transforms pathology slides into raw data of cells and area locations, and then the raw data is fed into the Nucleai engine computing hundreds of spatial features intersected with outcome to predict drug response. Nucleai’s AI-powered digital assays are mainly used to incorporate qualified biomarkers into prospective clinical trials or are used as companion diagnostics.
With partnership with biopharma, diagnostics and clinical laboratories such as the biopharmaceutical firm Adlai Nortye (a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative oncology drugs aimed at identifying, validating and testing novel hematoxylin and eosin staining-based biomarkers in Adlai Nortye’s clinical trials) or with Mayo Clinic to advance spatial biology in biopharma (by integrating Mayo's rich datasets, laboratories and expertise with Nucleai's cutting-edge AI platform to revolutionize the precision medicine landscape and transform digital pathology).
Moreover, Nucleai has a new partnership with the US-based contract research organization Sirona DX to further develop its AI-driven discovery of novel spatial biomarkers (indicators of recurrence, response to treatment or prognosis in solid tumors) and on June 25, 2021, Nucleai announced that it has partnered with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in order to leverage Nucleai's image analysis and biomarker discovery platform for several Merck's clinical stage oncology assets.
In 2022, Nucleai announced the expansion of its spatial biology platform to include a new generation of multiplex immunofluorescence analysis that uses DL to further unlock the power of multiplex immunofluorescence data analysis during drug discovery and development. Today Nucleai’s platform offers AI-driven spatial biomarker analysis and ingests images from various modalities, such as H&E, IHC, multiplex immunofluorescence and spatial transcriptomics, conducting advanced spatial analysis and delivering actionable insights for optimization of biomarker scoring, determination of biomarker prevalence and mechanism of action (MoA), and prediction of response to therapy.
In March 2024, Spatial AI biomarker startup Nucleai raised $14M led by Merck’s KGaA VC arm. Nucleai secured 💰 a $14M investment led by M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and supported by existing investors, bringing the total funding to $60M. On April 08, 2024, Nucleai, GoPath Diagnostics Partnered to Power AI-Powered Digital Pathology. This collaboration aims to offer AI-powered digital pathology solutions for clinical trials and diagnostics and foster innovative research by combining Nucleai’s expertise in spatial biology and AI with GoPath’s access to multi-modal real-world data, world-class lab services, and cutting-edge molecular capabilities. On June 25, 2024, Proscia (a global leader in AI-enabled pathology solutions for precision medicine) has partnered with Nucleai, in order for integration of Nucleai’s predictive biomarker solutions into Proscia’s Concentriq software platform and make them available as part of Proscia’s precision medicine AI portfolio to better inform patient care.
Nucleai was established in 2018 and is led by Avi Veidman (CEO), Eliron Amir, Lotan Chorev and Albert Achtenberg, who set up and managed the AI computer vision department in the Israeli military's Intelligence Corps. The company is located in Tel Aviv and has offices also in the US.