Insilico raises $110M for AI-designed pipeline

Insilico Medicine has successfully raised $110 million in a Series E funding round, as announced by CEO Alex Zhavoronkov. This round was spearheaded by Value Partners Group, a notable asset management firm in Asia. Key contributors to this funding included existing investors such as Warburg Pincus, OrbiMed Advisors, and Lilly Ventures. Bloomberg reports suggest that this round has elevated the private company's valuation to over $1 billion. Additionally, entities like Pudong Venture Capital, Puxing Synergy Fund, and Xiyi Venture Capital from Shanghai's Pudong district participated in this financing initiative. This new capital builds upon the $95 million raised during the company's Series D funding in 2022.

Insilico Medicine is at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence into drug development, with 31 active programs currently underway. The most advanced among these is ISM001-055, a potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Recent findings from a Phase IIa study in China showed promising results, where ISM001-055 achieved its primary safety and key secondary efficacy endpoints. Patients administered a daily dose of 60 mg experienced a mean improvement of 98.4 mL in forced vital capacity (FVC) over 12 weeks, whereas the placebo group saw a decline of 62.3 mL. Moreover, there was a 3.05% improvement in the percentage of predicted FVC among the treatment group, compared to a 1.84% decrease in the placebo group.

CEO Zhavoronkov noted that the successful Phase IIa outcomes were not the only drivers for this funding round. Insilico has significantly advanced its generative platforms and reinforcement learning pipeline, now boasting over 700 models. The funds will be instrumental in advancing their therapeutic pipeline and further developing their comprehensive AI platform.

Apart from ISM001-055, Insilico has nine other assets that are either in clinical trials or have received FDA clearance for the same. Three of these assets have been licensed to commercial partners, while another is being developed in collaboration with Fosun Pharma. Additionally, Insilico has a discovery agreement with Sanofi, which could potentially be worth up to $1.2 billion.

Insilico's robust pipeline is bolstered by innovative technologies like the Generative Biologics platform, which designs new peptides, nanobodies, and antibodies. The company's capabilities are further enhanced by the PandaOmics target discovery engine and the Chemistry42 AI small molecule generation platform. These technological advancements position Insilico Medicine as a trailblazer in the realm of AI-driven drug discovery and development.