Healthtech

Q1 202422.01.2024

Drug Discovery

Picture of Éanna Kelly

Éanna Kelly

at Sifted

Despite billions of pounds of investment, few new treatments for major diseases, from cancer to dementia, have made it to market in recent years. Some nine out of 10 drugs that enter clinical trials fail to get approved. Any drugs that do make it have (traditionally) survived a knotty 12-15 year journey, at a typical development cost of over $2bn. Anything that can speed up the drug hunt represents a win — and a new crop of startups say they can get us on the fast track with algorithm-designed drug discovery.

AI proponents say the tech proved itself during the Covid-19 crisis, when pharmaceutical companies used AI to optimise vaccines. Many of these companies have increased their interest in using the tool in the years since and have signed partnerships with AI startups to accelerate progress. Boston Consulting Group counts over 100 drug candidates designed with the help of AI for conditions including lymphoma, inflammatory diseases and motor neurone disease, that are currently in discovery and pre-clinical development.

Is it the start of a revolution? For doubters, it won’t be until a regulator approves a drug discovered entirely by AI. But it's worth noting the difference between startups screening known chemical libraries and those generating new digital molecular structures to bind with a specific target. The latter approach may be more difficult, but potentially more groundbreaking — so keep an eye out for any breakthroughs.

20 most promising early-stage startups

Sifted score
9.02
-
CHARM Therapeutics
3D deep learning for undruggable diseases.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2021
- HQ
  London, United Kingdom
- Latest round
  Early VC
  €18.2m / Apr 2023
- Total funding
  €75.1m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.57
-
Multiomic Health
Personalized treatment for metabolic syndrome.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Fundraising
- Year founded
  2021
- HQ
  London, United Kingdom
- Latest round
  Seed
  €5.6m / May 2023
- Total funding
  €8m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.43
-
Ochre Bio
Precision RNA therapies for liver regeneration.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2019
- HQ
  Oxford, United Kingdom
- Latest round
  Series A
  €27.3m / Oct 2022
- Total funding
  €36.1m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.09
-
Iris.ai
Scientific literature access and analysis.
Strong investor(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2015
- HQ
  Oslo, Norway
- Latest round
  Seed
  €2.4m / Dec 2022
- Total funding
  €8.4m
View company profile
Sifted score
7.01
-
Celeris Therapeutics
Targeted protein degraders for unmet diseases.
Strong investor(s)
Serial founder(s)
Hiring
- Year founded
  2021
- HQ
  Graz, Austria
- Latest round
  Seed
  €10m / Oct 2022
- Total funding
  €7.3m
View company profile

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