<div>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        New York-based AI biotech company Envisagenics entered into a multi-year collaboration with big pharma company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to accelerate the identification of novel oncology targets. The terms and financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        The duo will combine Envisagenics&rsquo;s AI platform SpliceCore and BMS&rsquo;s drug development expertise to identify ​​alternative splicing-derived targets to join BMS&rsquo;s existing oncology pipeline.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/envisagenics-announces-research-collaboration-with-bristol-myers-squibb-301687320.html">
      PR Newswire
    </a>
  </p>
</div>


AI Drug Discovery

Envisagenics partners with Bristol-Myers Squibb to identify oncology targets

<div>
<p>AI-based biotech firm, DeepCure, has amassed a total of USD 24.6 million in Series A-1 financing directed by IAG Capital Partners, alongside contributions from other longstanding shareholders. The funds secured add up to a grand total of over USD 72 million raised by the company to date.</p>
<p>The company aims to leverage the influx of funds to further develop its cutting-edge AI and automatic chemistry synthesis technology. Additionally, the funding will be aimed at progressing its inflammation and immunology pipeline towards initiating clinical trials.</p>
</div>

DeepCure raises USD 24.6 million in Series A-1 funding to advance AI technology and inflammation and immunology pipeline

<div>
 <p>Healx and Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF) have formed an investment agreement, following their partnership in 2020. This arrangement will lead to milestone-based payments.</p>
 <p>Funds from this agreement will progress Healx’s AI-based neurofibromatosis program and its primary candidate, HLX-1502, into Phase II clinical trials soon.</p>
</div>

Healx signs investment agreement with Children's Tumor Foundation to advance neurofibromatosis program to Phase II clinical trials

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 <p>Two significant preprint papers have been published by Model Medicines. These works outline how the corporation's unique GALILEO AI platform was used to discover a novel antiviral target, RdRp Thumb-1, along with the selection of a potential inhibitor, MDL-001. MDL-001 is a pan-antiviral candidate drug currently in trial phase, with reported broad activity against viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19.</p>
 <p>The papers further detail the creation and application of ChemPrint, a deep learning model designed for molecular property prediction. This model, built upon the same AI platform, surpassed other AI methods in discovering novel inhibitors of two oncology targets that were previously deemed undruggable.</p>
 <p>Model Medicines is a drug development company driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), operating at the convergence of data science, biology, and drug development. The corporation utilizes its proprietary GALILEO software platform to assist in AI and Machine Learning (ML) guided drug discovery. The GALILEO platform, specialized for managing clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotech products, has reportedly discovered 182 compounds targeting 26 different entities to date.</p>
 
</div>

Model Medicines announces breakthrough in AI-driven antiviral and oncology drug discovery

<div>
 
 <p>Biotech firm Diagonal Therapeutics has secured USD 128 million in a Series A financing round, with contributions from BVF Partners, Atlas, Lightspeed, RA Capital Management, Frazier Life Sciences, Viking Global Investors, Velosity, and Checkpoint Capital.</p>
 <p>This funding will support the expansion of the firm's DIAGONAL platform and the development of its novel therapeutics. Focus will primarily be placed on developing treatments for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a rare, currently untreatable bleeding disorder, up to the clinical proof-of-concept stage. </p>
 <p>Diagonal Therapeutics utilizes a unique approach to drug development, specifically targeting agonist antibodies. Their proprietary DIAGONAL platform merges computational and experimental methods to discover rare agonist antibodies capable of activating deficient signaling pathways. The company targets diseases that have limited available treatments, such as HHT and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), intending to reactivate dormant signaling pathways through their agonist antibodies​.</p>
 
</div>

Diagonal Therapeutics raises USD 128 million in Series A funding to advance DIAGONAL platform and pipeline of novel therapeutics

<div>
 <p>Leash Biosciences, a biotechnology company, has secured USD 9.3 million in a seed financing round. The primary participant was Springtide Ventures, and others included MetaPlanet, Top Harvest Capital, Mitsui Global Investment, MFV Partners, and Recursion founders Chris Gibson and Blake Borgeson.</p>
 <p>With this capital, the company intends to bolster its data collection and computational capabilities, enabling them to make strides in developing a foundational Machine Learning (ML) model for medicinal chemistry. This model will have the ability to predict small-molecule drug candidates for any given protein. By 2025, Leash Biosciences aims to screen over 500 protein targets using millions of ML-designed chemicals within its own proprietary library. </p>
 <p>Leash Biosciences focuses on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML in medicinal chemistry enhancing its capabilities in predicting small-molecule drug candidates for various protein targets. Up to the present, the company has produced over 17 billion high-quality measurements, exploring the interaction between protein and chemicals.</p>
</div>

Leash Biosciences raises USD 9.3 million in seed funding to develop ML model of medicinal chemistry to predict small-molecule drug candidates for any protein

<div>
 <p>Biodesix has announced a stock offering of 17,391,832 shares at USD 1.15 each and a private placement of 760,857 shares of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock at USD 46.00 each. These transactions are expected to yield gross proceeds of around USD 55 million.</p>
 <p>The offering and placement&nbsp;is managed by TD Cowen, William Blair, Canaccord Genuity, and Lake Street Capital Markets. Some management members, directors, and associated funds are anticipated to participate in the private placement. The closing date of the offering is expected to be approximately April 9, 2024, pending standard closing conditions and stockholder approval.</p>
 
</div>

Biodesix announces USD 55 million underwritten offer and private placement

<div>
    <p>Caris Life Sciences and Merck KGaA have initiated a multi-year collaboration with the aim to create novel antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for the treatment of cancer. In accordance with the partnership, Merck KGaA will provide Caris with an advance payment and funding for research. In addition, Caris will be eligible to receive milestone payments totalling up to USD 1.4 billion, based on the advancement of the project.</p>
    <p>The discovery division of Caris, Caris Discovery, utilizes the company's core molecular profiling operation to identify new druggable targets. This discovery process employs Caris' ADAPT Biotargeting platform and its dedicated research facility. Any new therapeutic targets discovered through this process are expected to be further developed by Merck KGaA.</p>
    <p>Merck KGaA will have global license rights to develop, manufacture, and distribute the ADC therapeutics produced as a result of this partnership.</p>
</div>

Caris Life Sciences and Merck KGaA partner to develop cancer-targeted first-in-class antibody drug conjugates

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

<div>
 <p>Odyssey Therapeutics and Janssen Pharmaceuticals have formed a partnership to investigate the development of precise drug treatments against certain therapeutic targets using innovative technologies and small-molecule medicines. The collaboration is facilitated by Johnson &amp; Johnson Innovation.</p>
 <p>The combined efforts tap into both partners' expertise in AI, ML, computational chemistry, and drug discovery with the objective of finding solutions to tackle challenging drug targets. The goal of this partnership is to expedite the drug discovery and development process using shared tools and data. According to the agreement, Odyssey will team up with Johnson &amp; Johnson's experts and data scientists to use AI and ML in discovering and optimizing small-molecule therapeutics. Odyssey will also receive an upfront payment, and there is the potential for milestone payments and future royalties.</p>
 
</div>

Odyssey Therapeutics partners with Janssen Pharmaceuticals to progress AI-powered small-molecule drug discovery

<div>
 <p>Nucleai, a startup specializing in Spatial AI biomarkers, has garnered USD 14 million in a recent funding round. This round was headed by M Ventures, Merck's venture capital branch, a,ong with familiar investors including Section 32, Sanofi Ventures, Debiopharm, Fosun RZ Capital, Vertex Ventures Israel, and Grove Ventures. The fundings raised to this point total to USD 60 million.</p>
 <p>The funds are planned to be deployed to further apply Nucleai's AI algorithms to patient enlistment for upcoming clinical trials. This strategy is deemed innovative, generating more tailored solutions to accomodate patients' individual needs.</p>
 
</div>

Nucleai raises USD 14 million in venture funding

<div>
 <p>SimBioSys has collaborated with General Inception, a worldwide company Igniter, in order to decrease the duration and cost linked with oncology drug production by utilizing AI and biophysical modeling. The cooperative venture intends to utilize the PhenoScope's capabilities, a tool designed by SimBioSys that evaluates an enormous amount of multi-modal data, to provide previously impossible insights in the realm of cancer drug discovery and development.</p>
 <p>The purpose of this alliance is to provide more efficient, individualized cancer treatments by ensuring all new oncology drug incubations under the aegis of General Inception employ SimBioSys’s PhenoScope platform. The technology is expected to expedite target identification, credentialing, and clinical positioning, thereby reducing the time taken to reach the clinic. Other expected benefits include increased efficacy through patient stratification and precision methodology.</p>
 <p>SimBioSys is a TechBio company that aims to revolutionize precision medicine and cancer care. The company combines AI, data science, and spatial biophysics to design technologies that offer customized cancer therapy solutions. TumorScope, its premier technology, simulates a patient's tumor in a 3D dimension to forecast responses to different therapies, thereby facilitating personalized treatment planning. This methodology aids clinicians to make informed decisions swiftly, improving patient care.</p>
</div>

All Updates