Insilico Medicine, a Hong Kong-based clinical-stage end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, announced Wednesday that it has completed a second closing of its Series D round, led by Prosperity7 Ventures, the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures, bringing the total Series D financing to $95 million.
Other global investors with expertise in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences sectors also participated the round, Insilico said in a statement.
The financing brought in Prosperity7 as a new investor, alongside current investors in the Series D round, including a large, diversified asset management firm on the US West Coast, B Capital Group, Warburg Pincus, BHR Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Deerfield, Pavilion Capital, BOLD Capital Partners, and WS Investment Company.
Insilico’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer Alex Zhavoronkov also invested in the Series D round.
According to the statement, the new Series D capital will support the continued advancement of Insilico’s pipeline, including its lead program which is currently in a Phase 1 study in New Zealand and in China, as well as several pipeline programs in IND-enabling studies.
The proceeds will also fund other key strategic initiatives, including further development of its end-to-end Pharma.AI platform, the launch of a fully automated, AI-driven robotic drug discovery laboratory and biological data factory, and the establishment of regional centers.
The investment from Prosperity7 also further diversifies the company’s investor base globally and brings a potential strategic partner with deep expertise in high-performance and environmentally friendly energy research and development (R&D).
Relying on Prosperity7’s global network and generous resources, Insilico will expand its AI capabilities from drug R&D to multiple areas, including sustainable chemistry, green energy, and agriculture to actively support sustainable development.
Insilico had already leveraged the power of its platform to accelerate innovation in sustainable agriculture in a multi-year collaboration with Syngenta which validated that the platform’s capabilities in AI-enabled multiparameter optimization could create substantial value.
“In 2022, Aramco became the world’s most valuable company, and we are deeply honored to receive the investment from their venture capital arm, Prosperity7, which focuses on investment in ‘disruptive technology’. Our experience in expanding our reach into sustainable agriculture through our collaboration with Syngenta and others demonstrated the diversity of data and methods and unprecedented scale up allows us to improve our performance,
“I am certain that the collaborations with Prosperity7 in the field of sustainable and environmentally friendly chemistry and clean energy solutions will further expand our artificial intelligence capabilities. In addition, after spending time in Saudi Arabia, it is clear that the country is making a giant leap in technology. We would love to be part of this effort and help the country realize its vision using the latest advances in artificial intelligence,” said Zhavoronkov.
Insilico Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategy Officer Feng Ren said the group has the structure to be as an equal parts AI and drug development company.
“We also have a number of exciting initiatives in motion – including an expanding global presence, a robotics lab in development, and significant progress in our internal pipeline programs. With this latest funding round, we will be able to scale up our capabilities, advance our internal programs, develop our AI, and align with partners in the Saudi region to develop new regional technology hubs,” he said.
Insilico has co-development and software licensing deals with a number of major pharmaceutical companies. Since the launch of its PandaOmics and Chemistry42 platforms in late 2020, nine out of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, as measured by 2020 revenue, have used Insilico’s AI platforms.
In 2022, Insilico signed multi-asset partnerships with Fosun Pharma and EQRX in January and March, respectively. The firm achieved its first major milestone and nominated a preclinical candidate for the QPCTL program for cancer immunotherapy less than 40 days into the strategic collaboration with Fosun Pharma. Business development continues to remain a vital part of the company’s strategy to demonstrate and unlock the value of its Pharma.AI platform.
“The deepening application of AI and machine learning for drug discovery has demonstrated a transformative positive impact on the pharmaceutical industry and we are delighted to embark on this partnership with Insilico, a frontrunner in this innovation,
“Backed by the breadth of Aramco’s ecosystem across geographies and sectors, we look to support the company to scale up and expand its footprint globally, to drive biotechnology excellence, and to bring positive impact for greater wellbeing,” said Aysar Tayeb, Executive Managing Director of Prosperity7 Ventures.