Parallel Bio Raises $21 Million in Series A for Human-First Drug Discovery

Parallel Bio, a biotechnology company located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is revolutionizing drug discovery with a focus on human-first methodologies. Recently, the company successfully secured $21 million in Series A funding, spearheaded by AIX Ventures. New investors, such as Amplo and Marc Benioff from Salesforce, joined existing backers Metaplanet, Humba Ventures, and others in supporting this innovative endeavor.

Parallel Bio aims to overturn the traditional drug development model, where a staggering 95% of drugs fail during human trials despite earlier successes in animal studies. By using human-derived organoids coupled with artificial intelligence (AI), the company seeks to enhance the likelihood of successful drug development, targeting a potential 95% success rate. The organoid-based immune system platform developed by Parallel Bio allows for testing new drugs in models that closely mimic human biology from the onset, thus promising more accurate results.

The funds raised will bolster the company’s AI and automation capacities, expand its scientific and engineering teams, and strengthen collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. So far, Parallel Bio has gathered nearly $30 million through its Series A and previous funding rounds.

The platform integrates lymph-node organoids with AI and robotics to simulate the human immune system comprehensively. Organoids, which are three-dimensional, self-assembling models, replicate the structure and function of human organs, acting like miniature versions that respond to diseases or treatments as human patients would.

AIX Ventures partner Krish Ramadurai, now on the company's board, highlighted the transformative nature of Parallel Bio’s approach, emphasizing its potential to expedite effective treatment development while providing crucial biological insights for future AI-powered therapeutics. The initiative is seen as setting a new benchmark in medicine, offering rapid deployment of treatments and generating novel biological data.

Since launching its "Clinical Trial in a Dish" last year, Parallel Bio reports growing interest from pharmaceutical entities. This application can accurately anticipate the safest and most effective drug candidates for human trials. By initiating with human models, Parallel Bio aims to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with drug development, potentially saving $2 billion and nine years per drug candidate.

Parallel Bio has collaborated with Centivax, a biotechnology firm focused on universal vaccines, to validate the performance of Centivax’s universal flu vaccine, Centi-Flu. The partnership allows for early validation of vaccine efficacy in human models before commencing human clinical trials. Centi-Flu has shown promise in triggering broad immune responses even against flu strains not included in the vaccine, thanks to its ability to target common viral features.

The organoid trials demonstrated Centi-Flu's capability to stimulate both B cells and T cells, which are essential for a robust immune response. This combinatory effect is crucial for defending against severe influenza cases, potentially reducing the incidence of hospitalization and mortality.

Parallel Bio, established in 2021, was founded by two pioneering scientists responsible for creating the first scalable human immune organoid. Through its groundbreaking work, Parallel Bio is setting new standards for drug discovery, potentially reshaping the landscape of medical research and treatment development by offering more predictive and human-relevant models than traditional animal studies.