Nvidia’s investment isn’t just working capital for Recursion Pharmaceuticals’ technology-driven drug discovery research. Recursion says it will get more computing power as well as the possibility of joining forces with Nvidia in research.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals is acquiring two Canada-based artificial intelligence startups, Cyclica and Valence. The “biology-first company” says both deals build up its capability to apply AI to the chemistry side of drug discovery.
As gene sequencing, machine learning, powerful imaging, sensors, gene and cell therapies make their way out of academic labs into everyday healthcare, our approach to healthcare is changing. For the first time, not only can we pinpoint the molecular and genetic causes of disease, but we also have the technologies to access them. On the back of this, prevention and cures are becoming possible. Can we afford them?
The biggest biotech IPO of 2021 belongs to a cell therapy developer that has yet to reach the clinic. Cell therapy and artificial intelligence were hot categories of newly public companies, but even though IPOs reached record levels this year that streak is not expected to continue in 2022.
Inertia is a barrier as is the traditional split between the clinical and the data-driven spheres of drug development. While smaller firms have an edge in bridging the gap, big pharma will eventually get there, said panelists at the INVEST conference session.
The partnership includes a $30 million upfront payment from Bayer and potentially more than $100 million in milestones per program generated through the partnering of the German drugmaker's molecule library and Recursion's artificial intelligence-based drug discovery platform.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Recursion's technology works by generating millions of cellular images and using AI-based software as a way to analyze the data set and screen potential therapeutic compounds against a variety of diseased cells.
Last month, it was reported that IBM would stop selling Watson for Drug Discovery, but executives in the field of biopharma artificial intelligence say the field is still going strong.
In addition to its expansion into bioengineering, the early stage venture capital firm has also shifted its investment strategy to include strategic growth investments.
