ISM-6331

Insilico Medicine\'s series E round will support pivotal clinical trials of the company\'s lead candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as well as the development of a humanoid lab robot. \n Alongside new steps in its therapeutic pipeline—and a new push into laboratory robotics—Insilico Medicine has raised $110 million to carry forward its artificial intelligence-powered drug design platforms.The company’s series E financing was led by the Hong Kong-based firm Value Partners, and was joined by Insilico’s previous investors as well as unnamed first-time backers. The proceeds will help refine its AI models, as well as support pivotal clinical trials of its lead drug candidate in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Earlier this month, that small molecule inhibitor—once known as ISM001-055—was rechristened with an official generic drug name: rentosertib. Insilico said the new moniker from the United States Adopted Names Council marks another milestone for the investigational compound, where both its structure and its biological target were uncovered using generative AI. Late last year, rentosertib delivered positive topline results from a placebo-controlled phase 2a trial of 71 patients in China, illustrating dose-dependent increases in lung capacity after three months. Investigators also found gains in quality-of-life scores using a chronic cough scale.Meanwhile, Insilico has also begun dosing its first phase 1 patients in China and the U.S. with ISM6331, its wholly-owned molecule aimed at mesothelioma and other solid tumors.“The funds raised will accelerate the advancement of our drug pipeline and AI platform, further solidifying Insilico’s leadership in this rapidly evolving sector. We remain dedicated to our mission of extending productive longevity to people and are proud to be at the forefront of innovation in healthcare,” Insilico founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov said in a statement. Last month, Insilico provided internal timelines spanning 22 of its AI-designed drug development programs—showing the time taken from target identification through molecule design and selection, then to the finalist’s preclinical preparation for human studies. To date, the former Fierce 15 and Fierce 50 winner has relied on AI programs and robotic labs to quickly synthesize and test potential drug-like molecules—at an average pace of 13 months apiece—while 10 assets have obtained FDA greenlights to pursue human studies.But now Insilico aims to take that automation further. This month the company unveiled its first prototype for a humanoid lab robot, dubbed “Supervisor,” with a bipedal machine that will be tasked with learning the skills of scientists.“Most of today’s laboratory equipment was designed to be operated by humans making it virtually impossible to have human-free fully-autonomous robotics facilities,” Zhavoronkov said in a March 5 release.“We aim to develop very capable humanoid systems that we and our partners in pharma, carbon capture and in other sustainability research areas could deploy,” he added. “These humanoids will work hand-in-hand with human scientists and are capable of performing mundane tasks like pipetting, working with reagents, and operating laboratory equipment.”