Generate:Biomedicines, a clinical-stage biotech company pioneering AI for drug discovery, has raised $273 million in a Series C financing round. The funding will advance Generate's pipeline of preclinical and clinical protein therapies and catalyze its generative biology platform.
The Somerville, Massachusetts-based company announced the financing on Thursday. New investors include Amgen, NVIDIA's venture capital arm NVentures, MAPS Capital, and Pictet Alternative Advisors. All previous investors also participated, including Flagship Pioneering, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, ARCH Venture Partners, and March Capital.
Generate has now raised nearly $700 million since 2020. With Series C financing in place, the company is looking to advance multiple programs through clinical trials and potentially engage in more collaborations that offer value. The financial cushion also provides Generate:Biomedicines with an opportunity to invest aggressively in new program starts, setting the stage for filing multiple Investigational New Drug (IND) applications in 2024.
"Our Series C round further propels The Generate Platform to increase significantly the precision, speed, and probability of success of novel therapeutics – positioning us to tackle even more complex targets and unmet patient needs," Nally said in the announcement.
Generate aims to transform the traditional trial-and-error approach to drug development using AI and machine learning. Its Generate Platform continuously cycles through design, build, test, and learn loops to rapidly create optimized protein therapies.
Since its last Series B fundraising in 2021, the company has initiated its first human trial for a COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy, expanded its Generate Platform into new modalities like bi-specifics and enzymes, and built a team of more than 280 skilled professionals. They are also gearing up to file a Clinical Trial Application for an anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody targeted at asthma by the early fourth quarter of 2023.
The company believes its generative biology techniques can cut the time and cost of drug discovery while improving the specificity and efficacy of therapies. The approach leaves less to chance compared to conventional methods.
"We are thrilled to have the support of so many investors who believe in our ability to pioneer a new era of programmable protein-based therapeutics using generative AI," said CFO Jason Silvers.
Generate currently has 17 programs underway targeting cancer, immunological conditions, and infectious diseases.
The Series C financing will drive expansion into new modalities like bi-specific antibodies and cell therapies. It will also allow Generate to initiate approximately 10 new programs per year.
With multiple clinical trials anticipated over the next couple years, the company aims to validate its platform's capabilities across an array of therapeutic areas. Scientific founder Noubar Afeyan believes Generate can realize a future "where drug development is no longer a game of chance."
Generative biology, powered by AI, is inching closer to turning biology into a predictive, rather than a probabilistic, discipline. As companies like Generate:Biomedicines make strides, investors and stakeholders alike can expect a more efficient and focused approach to addressing unmet patient needs across multiple disease areas.