8VC enables industry transformation. In a wave of creative destruction, they believe emerging platforms will replace the decades-old technology infrastructure behind many industries, promoting greater innovation and prosperity.

Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm specializing in investing in seed, start-ups, early, mid-stage, growth, and late-stage. It prefers to invest in the social media business and technology sector with a focus on software, back-end infrastructure, the infrastructure of the Internet, cloud computing, enterprise software and services, consumer, business Internet, mobile-Internet, consumer Internet, cloud computing, data storage, social network browsers data-storage, consumer electronics, networking functions, software related biology, biotech, and medicine companies at the intersection of computer science and life sciences with a focus on digital therapeutics, cloud technology in biology, and computational medicine.

Andreessen Horowitz

Innovation Endeavors is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in cutting-edge technologies to drive generational change in order to solve problems that matter. The firm’s central investment thesis, the Super Evolution, combines data, computational capacity, and advanced engineering to transform a range of industries including engineering health, climate, computing infrastructure, intelligent software, the physical economy, and more. Its investments include Afresh, AlphaSense, Atom Computing, Color, Gatik, Eikon Therapeutics, Fabric, Homelight, Kong, Formlabs, Panther, Planet, Replica, SoFi, Uber, Upstart, Vicarious Surgical, and more. For more information, visit www.InnovationEndeavors.com.

Innovation Endeavors

AME Cloud Ventures focuses on seed to later stage companies building infrastructure and value chains around data. It specializes in technology-heavy companies gathering or creating unique data at every stage of the data stack — from infrastructure all the way to applications, mobile, and sensors.  It strives to find, fund, and support true entrepreneurs. The firm provides a unique and genuine set of resources to our founding teams, from strong operational and business experience to networks of amazing mentors and international partners, particularly in China. AME Cloud Ventures is the venture fund led by Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!

AME Cloud Ventures

Section 32, the new venture fund launched by Bill Maris, was named in homage to Section 31, an intelligence agency from the Star Trek universe.  Maris, the GV (Google Ventures) founder/former-CEO, has raised $150 million for the project that will focus on various investments.  The fund will be run directly by Maris and primarily based out of San Diego.

Section 32

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and sale of pharmaceuticals and nutritional products.  Bristol Myers Squibb focuses on areas such as oncology, cardiovascular, immunoscience, and fibrosis to develop therapies that address significant unmet medical needs. The company's research and development efforts are centered around discovering new drugs and advancing existing ones to improve patient outcomes. BMS has a diverse portfolio of medicines, including several blockbuster drugs used in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The company is committed to advancing the science of medicine to help people fight serious diseases and improve their quality of life.

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Quadrille Capital is an independent private investment firm based in Paris and San Francisco. They spun off from Quilvest in 2012 and manage more than €900m in information technology and healthcare. Formerly Known as Quilvest Ventures. Quadrille Capital is Paris-based private equity and venture capital firm established in 2001, investing globally in technology and energy, two industries with sustainable long term growth. Technology includes IT, internet, healthcare and cleantech. Energy includes oil services, exploration and production, midstream, power and renewables. Quadrille Capital provides access to the best-performing funds of these fields worldwide, as well as to some of these funds’ portfolios’ best companies through direct investments. Quadrille Capital also builds customized partnerships with corporate groups.

Quadrille Capital

Amgen Ventures is a venture capital investment arm of Amgen Inc. specializing in investments in early and later stage companies. The firm primarily invests in the biotechnology sector with a focus on discovering and developing human therapeutics with a focus on oncology, inflammation, hematology, nephrology, metabolic disorders, neuroscience, and cardiovascular therapeutics. In oncology and hematology it focuses on novel therapeutics including signal transduction, cell cycle, and apoptosis; hematopoiesis including anemia, neutropenia, and stem cell mobilization; and supportive care including mucositis and cachexia. In nephrology the firm focuses on renal failure and hyperparathyroidism. For inflammation the firm focuses on rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, asthma and COPD, and osteoarthritis. Under cardiovascular, it focuses on acute coronary syndromes, dyslipidemia, and heart failure and under metabolic disorders it focuses on diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis. The focus on neuroscience included pain including neuropathic and inflammatory, alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease, sleep disorder, cognition, and schizophrenia. In discovery research and technology the firm focuses on early-stage drug discovery collaborations, innovative chemical entity collections, diagnostics and biomarkers, novel antibody platforms, assay biologicals and devices, and target-focused structural biology and computational tools. It primarily invests in the North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. The firm typically invests between $2 million and $3 million per transaction and may invest up to $10 million per company. It prefers to have an ownership stake of less than 15 % in its portfolio companies. Amgen Ventures was founded in 2004 and is based in San Francisco, California with additional offices in Seattle, Washington; Thousand Oaks, California; and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Amgen Ventures

Gaingels is a venture investment syndicate in service of the LGBT+ community and its allies, investing in companies with LGBT+ founders and C-suite leaders at all stages of growth, as well as in more established companies resolved on building more inclusive teams, with a global portfolio of 130+ companies and $70M in deployed investment capital to date.  The Gaingels network also actively supports its portfolio in identifying and recruiting diverse talent to their C-suite and board leadership teams and fosters a vibrant global community of industry leaders, investors, operators, and entrepreneurs who share a common goal for positive social change through business and successful investments.

Gaingels

Deep Tech Venture Capital firm. We invest in AI, Robotics, Life Sciences, Tech Infrastructure, Advanced Materials and others. Deep Tech is where Science meets Technology. Deep tech companies are building a better future, thanks to entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, engineers, academics, and subject matter experts who develop new algorithms, models, systems, devices and products.

GRIDS Capital

BigHat Biosciences

BigHat is a developer of an AI-guided protein therapeutic platform used to integrate antibody characterization lab with machine learning technologies to engineer molecules with more complex functions and better biophysical properties. The company is applying these design capabilities to develop new generations of safer and more effective treatments for patients suffering from today’s most challenging diseases.

<div>BigHat Biosciences leverages its AI platform, Milliner, which combines AI-guided design capabilities and lab synthesis to develop antibody therapies. Milliner is capable of designing, synthesizing, and characterizing antibodies, addressing the complexities in biologics discovery and generating improved binders compared to traditional technologies. The company's approach has attracted attention for its potential to address unmet needs across various diseases, including oncology, inflammation, and infectious diseases​​​​.</div>

Artificial intelligence is identifying and testing new therapies faster than ever.

AI Drug Discovery

BigHat Biosciences is a biotechnology company that develops safer and more effective antibody therapies for patients using machine learning and synthetic biology. Their Milliner platform integrates a high-speed wet lab for rapid characterization with machine learning technologies to guide the design and optimization of therapeutic antibodies. BigHat employs an iterative design-build-test approach, where machine learning models generate hundreds of antibody variant designs that are synthesized, expressed, and characterized in the wet lab. The data from these experiments is then used to further train the AI/ML models, enabling them to create antibodies with improved properties like increased affinity, stability, and desired functionality.

AbbVie and BigHat Biosciences Announce Research Collaboration to Leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Discover Next-Generation Therapeutic Antibodies

BigHat Biosciences Raises $75 Million in Series B Funding to Design Safer, More Effective Antibodies

BigHat Biosciences Enters Into Strategic Collaboration to Leverage Machine Learning in Antibody Discovery & Design

BigHat Biosciences raises $75M to design safer, more effective antibodies

AI-Created Antibodies Drive Innovation at BigHat Biosciences

BigHat Biosciences Announces Research Collaboration with Merck

Company Uses AI Drug Discovery for Designing Biologics

Sidley Represents BigHat Biosciences in Strategic Collaboration With Janssen Biotech To Leverage Machine Learning in Antibody Discovery & Design

Merck and BigHat BioSciences Partner on Drug Discovery Programs

Targeting complex diseases with complex molecules

Large-molecule Therapeutics

BigHat Biosciences licenses ADC technology from Synaffix for next-gen ADC program.. BigHat Biosciences.. product 

Synaffix BV

To leverage Synaffix's antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology with BigHat Biosciences' AI/ML-based antibody design platform, enabling more efficient, next-generation ADCs for improved patient outcomes in difficult-to-treat cancers.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies providing their ML platform to other pharma companies for drug discovery services such as target selection, validation and lead optimization.

Janssen

To develop novel therapeutics using the companies' combined expertise in drug discovery and AI/ML.

Honeywell

BigHat Biosciences collaborates with Janssen Biotech for next-gen protein therapeutics design

Merck

Under the collaboration, BigHat and Merck will collaborate to optimize up to three proteins by leveraging BigHat’s platform to synthesize, express, purify, and characterize molecules.

BigHat Biosciences entered into a partnership with big pharma company Merck (known as MSD outside the US and Canada), to develop novel antibody drug candidates.

Biotechnology companies that have integrated AI as a core component of their in-house drug development process. They typically have a few in-house drug development programs, and also collaborate with pharma companies to develop certain drugs.

<div>
 
 BigHat Biosciences leverages its AI platform, Milliner, which combines AI-guided design capabilities and lab synthesis to develop antibody therapies. Milliner is capable of designing, synthesizing, and characterizing antibodies, addressing the complexities in biologics discovery and generating improved binders compared to traditional technologies. The company's approach has attracted attention for its potential to address unmet needs across various diseases, including oncology, inflammation, and infectious diseases​​​​.
 
 
 BigHat has made significant advancements in its field, notably acquiring 
 <a href="https://www.bighatbio.com/news/bighat-biosciences-completes-its-acquisition-of-frugi-biotechnology">
 Frugi Biotechnology
 </a>
 in March 2022 to integrate cell-free protein synthesis technology into its platform, enhancing its capability to produce recombinant antibodies efficiently​​​​.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 BigHat Biosciences established key partnerships with major biopharma companies, including 
 <a href="https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/abbvie-partners-with-bighat-to-develop-antibody-therapies/#:~:text=AbbVie%20has%20partnered%20with%20BigHat,in%20oncology%20and%20neuroscience%20indications.">
 AbbVie
 </a>
 (December 2023) to develop novel antibody therapies for neuroscience and oncology; 
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221129005191/en/BigHat-Biosciences-Announces-Research-Collaboration-with-Merck">
 Merck
 </a>
 (November 2022) to develop novel drug candidates for three programs; and 
 <a href="https://www.bighatbio.com/news/bighat-biosciences-completes-first-stage-of-research-collaboration-with-amgen">
 Amgen
 </a>
 (January 2022) to optimize a next-generation antibody.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In July 2022, BigHat Biosciences raised USD 75 million in a Series B funding round led by Section 32, with participation from Amgen Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb, and others. The funding was earmarked to expand its high-speed wet lab, further develop its internal pipeline of discovery programs, and enhance its AI/ML technology to design antibody therapies. 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 HiberCell is a biotechnology company that develops novel therapies focused on oncology. It entered the AI drug discovery space when it acquired AI genomics analysis company Genuity Science (and its subsidiaries in Iceland and Ireland) in August 2021.&nbsp;
 
 
 Genuity Science&rsquo;s solutions include end-to-end therapeutic discovery and development services such as building custom disease datasets, discovering and prioritizing targets, identifying biomarkers, and optimizing clinical trials. Genuity Science leverages its AI-powered platform to manage, process, and analyze genomic data. HiberCell intends to use Genuity Science&rsquo;s AI/ML capabilities to advance its oncology pipeline of five programs, of which one has reached the Phase 2 clinical trial stage.
 
 
 As of March 2024, the company&rsquo;s pipeline included three drug candidates, namely: 1) HC-7366, targeting the general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) kinase as part of the integrated stress response (ISR) signaling pathway; 2) HC-5404, aimed at inhibiting the PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) involved in the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathway; and 3) odetiglucan, a therapy targeting tumor-immune interactions within the tumor microenvironment​.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In December 2023, HiberCell and Merck &amp; Co partnered to conduct a Phase Ib trial to evaluate the combination therapy of belzutifan and HC-7366 for treating clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Further, in January 2021, the company partnered with Biodesix to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as a companion diagnostic test.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://hibercell.com/news/hibercell-closes-67-4-million-series-b-financing-and-secures-30-million-debt-facility-from-hercules-capital/">
 May 2021
 </a>
 , HiberCell completed a Series B financing round, raising USD 67.4 million, and secured an additional USD 30 million in debt financing from Hercules Capital. The funds were expected to be used for clinical advancement of its novel therapeutic candidates. 
 
</div>

HiberCell

<div>
 
 Arbor Biotechnologies specializes in gene editing to develop novel therapeutics for a variety of indications, starting with liver-related diseases. It operates an AI-powered biodiscovery platform to discover novel CRISPR enzymes, which are sequences of repeating genetic code. To do this, its platform deploys computational search techniques, genome sequencing, gene synthesis, and high-throughput screening. This can eventually be turned into drugs or even applied to agriculture and other industrial uses. In 2018, the company announced the discovery of Cas13d, a new type of gene editing enzyme that helps to alter RNA to treat genetic diseases.&nbsp;
 
 
 As of February 2024, the company had five internal drug discovery programs, of which one was in the IND-enabling stage. It also has multiple collaborative programs under development focused on oncology and various other therapeutic areas.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company has a long-standing partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals since
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190103005194/en/Vertex-and-Arbor-Biotechnologies-Establish-Collaboration-to-Discover-Novel-Proteins-to-Advance-Discovery-of-Gene-Editing-Therapies">
 January 2019
 </a>
 , which focused on developing gene-editing treatments for cystic fibrosis and four other diseases. The alliance was further extended in 
 <a href="https://www.biospace.com/article/vertex-and-arbor-strike-a-1-2-billion-deal-for-gene-editing-programs/">
 August 2021
 </a>
 and 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15741">
 January 2023
 </a>
 .&nbsp;
 
 
 Other partnerships included a collaboration with 
 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arbor-biotechnologies-announces-collaboration-with-ginkgo-bioworks-to-advance-the-discovery-and-development-of-precision-gene-editors-302011991.html">
 Ginkgo Bioworks
 </a>
 (December 2023) to leverage Ginkgo's R&amp;D services to further optimize Arbor's novel precision editors, a non-exclusive licensing agreement with 
 <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/02/08/2380680/0/en/EdiGene-and-Arbor-Biotechnologies-Announce-Worldwide-Non-exclusive-License-Agreement-to-Advance-Ex-Vivo-Engineered-Cell-Therapy-Programs.html">
 EdiGene
 </a>
 (February 2022) to leverage Arbor&rsquo;s platform for ex vivo oncology therapies, a strategic research and non-exclusive licensing agreement with 
 <a href="https://investors.tcr2.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tcr2-therapeutics-and-arbor-biotechnologies-establish">
 TCR2 Therapeutics
 </a>
 (January 2022) to develop allogeneic TRuC T-cell therapies using Arbor&rsquo;s CRISPR technology, and a license agreement with 
 <a href="https://www.lonza.com/news/2020-12-23-14-00">
 Lonza
 </a>
 (December 2020) to use Arbor&rsquo;s gene-editing technology for Lonza&rsquo;s bioproduction products and services.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In its latest Series B funding round in November 2021, which was led by Ally Bridge Group, TCG Crossover, and Temasek, Arbor Biotechnologies raised USD 215 million. The proceeds of the round were earmarked to fuel the company&rsquo;s clinical development pipeline.
 
</div>

Arbor Biotechnologies

Based in the UK, Arctoris provides an automated drug discovery platform, offering fully validated research and development (R&amp;D) processes under an Experiments-as-a-Service model. The company works with biotechnology companies, AI drug discovery companies, pharma and academic institutions enabling these institutions to run experiments in Arctoris’s platform and provides on-demand access to a broad scale of datasets for AI drug discovery companies to train their algorithms.

Arctoris

<div>
 
 Frontier Medicines leverages AI/ML technologies to develop treatments for cancer-causing proteins that are dismissed by traditional pharma companies as undruggable.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company has a proprietary chemoproteomic platform which entails an approach based on the interaction of small-molecule compounds and proteins to screen a large number of targets and combine them with a protein database that contains more than 150,000 novel binding pockets (hotspots). This enables it to access 90% of the human proteome that were not previously targeted due to lack of hotspots. The platform&rsquo;s AI/ML engine incorporates a library of diverse compounds, a hotspot map that serves as the starting point for understanding the druggability of a potential therapeutic target, and lead design and generation.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company focuses on oncology and immunology target and, as of February 2024, it had five wholly-owned therapeutic programs and three AbbVie-partnered programs in its pipeline. All programs were in their discovery stage, except the company&rsquo;s lead candidate, FMC-376 (activated and inactivated forms), focused on treating different cancer types, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which is in the IND-enabling stage.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company entered a USD 100 million partnership with 
 <a href="https://news.abbvie.com/2020-12-02-AbbVie-and-Frontier-Medicines-Establish-Global-Partnership-to-Discover-and-Develop-Novel-Therapies-and-E3-Degraders-Against-Difficult-to-Drug-Targets">
 AbbVie
 </a>
 In December 2020 to develop small-molecule therapeutics against hard-to-drug protein targets including around 600 E3 ligases (the enzymes that drive the ubiquitination and degradation of proteins.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In July 2021, the company raised USD 88.5 million in a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4347">
 Series B
 </a>
 funding round co-led by Woodline Partners LP and RA Capital Management, with equal participation from Deerfield Management Company. The proceeds were earmarked for advancing the company&rsquo;s drug pipeline and expanding operations in Boston, where its new facility was to complement the company&rsquo;s headquarters in California. 
 
</div>

Frontier Medicines

<div>
 
 Verge Genomics is a biotechnology company engaged in developing therapeutics for neurological diseases using human genomics and AI to accelerate drug discovery. The main target areas are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson&rsquo;s Disease (PD), and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).&nbsp;
 
 
 It has built a proprietary all-human platform (unlike standard clinical trials that rely on animal data), called CONVERGE, that uses data sets from brain tissue samples of deceased patients with ALS and PD. While most drugs target only one gene at a time, the company claims its technology can identify hundreds of genes that cause disease and develop drugs that target all the genes at the same time. The company uses AI technology to optimize the drug discovery process as a whole.
 
 
 As of March 2024, Verge had one drug candidate in the clinical stage (Phase I) and 10 drug candidates in the discovery stage.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company has partnerships with various tissue banks (such as Harvard University and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine) and several educational institutes and foundations (such as Target ALS, Answer ALS) that enabled its drug discovery platform.&nbsp;
 
 
 In addition, the company&rsquo;s customers include several pharmaceutical companies, such as 1) 
 <a href="https://www.vergegenomics.com/news-blog/verge-genomics-announces-research-collaboration-with-the-sheffield-institute-for-translational-neuroscience">
 Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN)
 </a>
 to accelerate the validation of novel drug targets and screening of drug compounds for Parkinson's disease (February 2021), 2) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4146">
 Eli Lilly
 </a>
 to research and develop novel therapies to treat ALS (July 2021), 3) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21707">
 Alexion
 </a>
 to identify novel drug targets for rare neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases (September 2023), and 4) 
 <a href="https://www.vergegenomics.com/news-blog/verge-genomics-and-the-pritzker-neuropsychiatric-disorders-research-consortium-form-cutting-edge-schizophrenia-research-collaboration">
 Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium
 </a>
 to analyze data from schizophrenic patient&rsquo;s brain tissue with Verge&rsquo;s technology (October 2023).
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In December 2021, Verge raised USD 98 million in an oversubscribed 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7426">
 Series A
 </a>
 funding round led by BlackRock. The funds were used to scale up its pre-clinical and clinical candidate programs in the pipeline and enhance its lead therapeutics through clinical testing. 
 
</div>

Verge Genomics

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies providing their ML platform to other pharma companies to design and run preclinical experiments.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies providing their ML platform to other pharma companies to identify biomarkers (measurable biological signs used to determine disease progression) and predict drug response.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies aggregating and analyzing biomedical data with the help of AI to generate insights across the drug development pipeline.

Includes companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for drug discovery & development

Companies leverage GenAI to support drug discovery through accelerated drug designing

Companies offer AI/ML-based SaaS products to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics

Offers AI/ML-based solutions to accelerate drug discovery and development

BigHat Biosciences is a biotechnology company that develops safer and more effective antibody therapies for patients using machine learning and synthetic biology. Their Milliner platform integrates a high-speed wet lab for rapid characterization with machine learning technologies to guide the design and optimization of therapeutic antibodies. BigHat employs an iterative design-build-test approach, where machine learning models generate hundreds of antibody variant designs that are synthesized, expressed, and characterized in the wet lab. The data from these experiments is then used to further train the AI/ML models, enabling them to create antibodies with improved properties like increased affinity, stability, and desired functionality.
BigHat's Milliner platform allows them to tackle challenging antibody design problems across various therapeutic areas, including oncology, inflammation, and infectious diseases. In March 2022, BigHat acquired Frugi Biotechnology to integrate cell-free protein synthesis capabilities into their platform. As of July 2022, BigHat had five internal discovery programs underway, focused on designing ultra-high-quality next-generation antibodies. In December 2023, BigHat announced a collaboration with AbbVie to discover next-generation antibodies for oncology and neuroscience targets, with an upfront payment of USD 30 million and potential milestones and royalties. In November 2022, BigHat announced another collaboration with Merck to apply their Milliner platform for up to three drug discovery programs.

Innovent Biologics is a leading biopharmaceutical company founded in 2011 with the mission to develop and commercialize innovative and affordable medicines. The company focuses on oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, autoimmune disorders, and ophthalmology. As of March 2024, Innovent has ten approved products in the Chinese market, including TYVYT (sintilimab injection), BYVASDA (bevacizumab injection), SULINNO (adalimumab injection), and others. The company's core product, TYVYT, is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved across seven indications, making it the most widely approved PD-1 inhibitor in China.
Innovent has a robust pipeline with three new drug applications under review, four assets in Phase III or pivotal trials, and 19 molecules in early clinical development. The company's innovative pipeline spans various modalities, including bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and RNA therapeutics. In oncology, Innovent is advancing the next-generation immunotherapy combinations with ADCs, such as the CLDN18.2 ADC (IBI343) and the EGFR/B7H3 bispecific ADC (IBI3001). The company's metabolic pipeline includes mazdutide, a first-in-class GLP-1R/GCGR dual agonist in late-stage development for weight management.
Innovent has a strong emphasis on global innovation, with its Innovent Academy delivering eight novel molecules into IND-enabling stage in 2023. The company has established large-scale manufacturing facilities in Suzhou and Hangzhou to support global supply. Innovent collaborates with over 30 global healthcare leaders, reinforcing its commitment to advancing biopharmaceutical innovation worldwide.

Innovent Biologics

<div>
 
 ADC Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for treating cancer. The company's ADCs leverage highly potent and targeted pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimer technology, which causes the ADCs' antibodies to bind to specific tumor cell surface antigens. Once internalized, the potent PBD dimer is released inside the cell, creating covalent cross-links between the DNA strands, disrupting cell division without triggering DNA repair mechanisms.
 
 
 
 
 ADC Therapeutics' lead product candidate, Zynlonta, received FDA approval in April 2021 for treating adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. The company is also advancing a deep pipeline of other PBD-based ADCs targeting hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. As of May 2021, ADC Therapeutics reported revenues of USD 38.2 million, reflecting initial sales of Zynlonta.
 
 
 
 
 In March 2022, ADC Therapeutics acquired US commercial rights to Overrkey Biological's anti-HER2 ADC Overena, broadening its cancer treatment portfolio. The acquisition aligned with the company's strategic focus on expanding globally with its PBD-based ADC technology.
 
</div>

ADC Therapeutics

Sirnaomics is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of RNA therapeutics. The company focuses on innovative drugs for indications with unmet medical needs and large market opportunities. Sirnaomics utilizes two proprietary delivery platforms: the Polypeptide Nanoparticle Formulation (PNP) and the second generation of GalNAc conjugates called GalAhead.
Sirnaomics has established a robust pipeline of drug candidates, with several products in clinical and preclinical stages. The company's lead clinical product, STP705, has demonstrated positive results in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma in situ (isSCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Additionally, STP705 is being explored for focal fat reduction in the medical aesthetics field. Another promising candidate, STP707, is a PNP formulation consisting of two siRNAs targeting TGF-β1 and COX-2 for intravenous treatment of solid tumors. STP707 has shown promising results in a Phase I basket clinical study, exhibiting stable disease response in 74% of evaluable patients.
Sirnaomics achieved a significant milestone by advancing STP122G, the first candidate utilizing the GalAhead technology, into clinical development. STP122G targets Factor XI for anticoagulation therapeutics and is currently undergoing Phase I clinical trials.
In March 2023, Sirnaomics' subsidiary, RNAimmune, received IND clearance from the FDA to initiate a Phase I clinical trial for RV-1770, an mRNA vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Additionally, RNAimmune obtained FDA clearance for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster candidate, RV-1730.
Sirnaomics has established its manufacturing facility in China, enabling the transition from a biotech company to a biopharmaceutical corporation. The facility has successfully produced a full GMP batch of STP707 for human injection and is expected to support the company's clinical pipeline.
In July 2024, Sirnaomics announced the completion of IND-enabling studies for STP125G, an siRNA therapeutic targeting Apolipoprotein C3 (ApoC3) for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The positive results from non-human primate studies support the filing of an IND with the FDA.

Sirnaomics

Sesen Bio is a late-stage clinical company that previously focused on developing targeted fusion protein therapeutics for cancer treatment. Its lead product candidate, Vicineum, is a locally administered targeted fusion protein composed of an anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) antibody fragment tethered to a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin A for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).
In February 2021, the FDA accepted Sesen Bio's Biologics License Application (BLA) for Vicineum to treat BCG-unresponsive NMIBC, granting Priority Review. However, in August 2021, the company received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA, requiring an additional Phase 3 clinical trial for potential resubmission. Following discussions with the FDA in March 2022, Sesen Bio aligned on most elements for the trial design and planned to meet again in mid-2022 to finalize outstanding items.
On July 15, 2022, Sesen Bio made the strategic decision to voluntarily pause further development of Vicineum in the US due to the incremental timeline and costs associated with the additional Phase 3 trial. The company shifted its primary focus to consummating a strategic transaction to maximize shareholder value while seeking a partner for Vicineum's further development.
In September 2022, Sesen Bio announced a pending merger with Carisma Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing immunotherapies based on engineered macrophages. This merger was approved by Sesen Bio's stockholders in March 2023, with the combined company operating under the name Carisma Therapeutics Inc. and trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker "CARM".
Upon closing the merger in March 2023, Sesen Bio declared a special cash dividend of USD 75 million (around USD 0.36 per share) to its stockholders and issued them Contingent Value Rights (CVRs) entitling them to potential proceeds from the sale of Vicineum and other assets, as well as a USD 30 million milestone payment under the Roche Asset Purchase Agreement.

Sesen Bio

ACELYRIN, INC. is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative medicines for immunology and inflammatory diseases. The company's lead product candidate is izokibep, a next-generation inhibitor of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) designed to overcome limitations of monoclonal antibodies. Izokibep is being evaluated in multiple late-stage trials for moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and noninfectious uveitis.
In March 2024, ACELYRIN reported positive top line data from a global Phase 2 billion/3 clinical trial of izokibep in PsA, meeting the primary endpoint of ACR50 at 16 weeks with high statistical significance. The trial also demonstrated robust clinical responses for higher hurdle endpoints like ACR70, PASI100, and composite measures, indicating izokibep's potential to provide clinically meaningful benefits. Additionally, ACELYRIN announced differentiated long-term 32-week data from a global Phase 2 billion trial of izokibep in HS, showing rapid, dose-ordered improvement across multiple disease manifestations, including HiSCR100 achieved earlier than reported by other IL-17 inhibitors.
ACELYRIN's other late-stage asset is lonigutamab, a subcutaneously delivered monoclonal antibody targeting IGF-1R being investigated for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (TED). In March 2024, ACELYRIN announced positive proof-of-concept data from a Phase 1/2 trial, demonstrating rapid improvements in proptosis and clinical activity score within three weeks after the first dose.
As of December 31, 2023, ACELYRIN had cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities totaling USD 721.3 million, providing a runway to support key late-stage data milestones and registrational studies across multiple indications. In January 2023, ACELYRIN acquired ValenzaBio, adding lonigutamab and other immunology assets to its pipeline.

ACELYRIN

Companies that develop engineered proteins that can target specific proteins or cells in the body

Companies that develop large molecules that can be used to target specific RNA molecules in the body, either to silence or replace them

Companies that develop large molecules that combine the targeting ability of monoclonal antibodies with the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy drugs

Companies that develop large molecules that can be used to replace or supplement deficient or malfunctioning proteins in the body

Companies specializing in peptide-based treatments leverage short amino acid chains, known as peptides, to target and modulate various biological processes for therapeutic applications

AL/ML used to identify potential drug targets, and support protein engineering and optimization

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 AI biotechnology company BigHat Biosciences has partnered with Synaffix to integrate the latter's antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) technology into BigHat's AI/ML-based antibody design platform. This partnership aims to create a more efficient ADC that can improve patient outcomes in hard-to-treat cancers by speeding up the antibody design process, ensuring maximum payload delivery, and offering safer and more effective treatment options.

</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 BigHat Biosciences’ machine learning antibody design platform, Milliner, has been employed in previous research collaborations for developing ADCs, including that with AbbVie ( <a href="https: 
//news.abbvie.com/2023-12-05-AbbVie-and-BigHat-Biosciences-Announce-Research-Collaboration-to-Leverage-Artificial-Intelligence-and-Machine-Learning-to-Discover-Next-Generation-Therapeutic-Antibodies"> December 2023 </a> ), to integrate advanced ML algorithms with a high-throughput wet lab to optimize antibodies' biophysical and functional properties, aiming to develop next-generation therapeutic antibodies for oncology and neuroscience.

BigHat Biosciences

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