Jerusalem-based AI drug design company Pepticom has raised USD 2.6 million in a venture funding round led by existing investor, the Chartered Group, bringing the total funding of the company up to USD 7.6 million.

The proceeds will be used to establish a spinoff company, Pepticov, for the design, discovery, and development of novel peptide molecules to treat SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in collaboration with outside pharma companies.

Pepticom used its AI technology to find several protein targets relating to the SARS-Cov-2 virus and design peptide drug candidates that were later validated through laboratory tests. It says this was the foundation to the formation of a new spinout company. 

Founded in 2011, Pepticom utilizes biocomputational AI software to design novel peptide drug candidates which can speed up the drug development process while reducing risks and costs. The company claims its technology is capable of screening 1,030 possible molecular options, higher than other screening techniques, to find suitable candidates. The company has several undisclosed in-house programs at the discovery stage and has also entered into partnerships with Adama, an agricultural company, the University of Oxford, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Fraunhofer.