Insilico Medicine secures US $110M to advance AI-driven drug discovery

USA – Insilico Medicine has raised US $110 million in Series E funding to expand its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug discovery efforts.

The funding, led by Asia’s Value Partners Group, will be used to advance its drug pipeline, enhance AI models, and increase lab automation.

This investment follows promising results from Insilico’s lead drug, rentosertib, for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a severe lung disease.

The company has also hinted at plans for an initial public offering (IPO), possibly on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, after surpassing a US $1 billion valuation.

The latest funding is Insilico’s first since it raised US $60 million in 2022. Since then, rentosertib has progressed from phase 1 to a phase 2a trial, and Insilico has received regulatory approval to start clinical testing on 10 drug candidates.

In November, the company reported that rentosertib was well-tolerated and showed dose-dependent improvements in forced vital capacity (FVC), a key lung function measure.

Current treatments for IPF slow disease progression but do not stop or reverse it, highlighting the need for better therapies.

Developed using generative AI (GenAI), rentosertib targets TNIK (Traf2- and NCK-interacting kinase), a novel protein linked to fibrosis.

Insilico says it is the first company to use AI to discover both a drug target and a therapeutic compound.

“This funding will accelerate the advancement of our drug pipeline and AI platform, further solidifying Insilico’s leadership in this rapidly evolving sector,” said CEO Alex Zhavoronkov.

Insilico’s AI-powered Pharma.AI platform is transforming drug discovery by identifying preclinical candidates in just 12 to 18 months, compared to the traditional timeframe of two-and-a-half to four years.

The company’s innovations have attracted major pharmaceutical firms, securing licensing deals worth over US $2.1 billion with Fosun Pharma, Exelixis, and Menarini, and additional partnerships valued at $1.4 billion with Sanofi, Saudi Aramco, and Therasid Bioscience.