(Reuters) – Drug developer Generate:Biomedicines, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to find new treatments, said on Thursday it has raised $273 million from investors including Nvidia’s venture capital arm and Amgen.
The company said it would use the Series C funding to support its pipeline of drugs for various disease areas such as cancer, infectious diseases and immunological conditions.
Generate — founded by venture firm Flagship Pioneering, which has incubated biotech companies, most famously Moderna Inc — uses AI to replace trial-and-error drug discovery methods and create novel protein-based therapeutics.
Generate is testing a monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19, its first therapy to reach human testing.
“The company has made significant advancements over the last five years, and I am confident this funding will enable us to realize a future where drug development is no longer a game of chance,” Flagship’s CEO Noubar Afeyan said in a statement.
Generate said the latest funding round would help the company increase the precision, speed and probability of success of its drug development.
The Series C round attracted some new investors such as MAPS Capital and Pictet Alternative Advisors, besides existing investors including Flagship and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Generate did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a comment on its valuation.
The AI-driven drug developer has raised about $700 million in equity financing since 2020.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
