In a major funding coup, AI-centric startup Generate:Biomedicines has scored an impressive $273 million windfall in its Series C financing round, thanks to the backing of heavyweight newcomers Amgen and NVIDIA’s venture capital arm. This Massachusetts-based biotech powerhouse announced its funding triumph on Thursday.
These substantial funds will power Generate’s ambitious agenda, which includes advancing its impressive pipeline of 17 programs through clinical and preclinical development. The goal is to submit multiple investigational new drug (IND) applications in 2024, with plans to propel these candidates into clinical trials.
Notably, Generate aims to harness this financial boost to fully validate and enhance its AI platform, which promises to revolutionize the precision, speed, and success rates of pioneering therapeutics. CEO Mike Nally enthusiastically emphasized how this investment will elevate the company’s industry standing and empower it to tackle even the most complex medical challenges and unmet patient needs.
As Nally put it, “With our first program now in the clinic and multiple programs expected to enter clinical studies over the next couple of years, we are beginning to realize the enormous potential of generative biology to save and improve the lives of patients in areas where the burden of disease is greatest.”
Generate’s groundbreaking drug discovery and development platform is a marvel in itself, crafting optimized sequences to generate novel proteins that have never existed in nature. It achieves this feat by analyzing hundreds of millions of known proteins, deciphering statistical patterns in amino acid sequences, structure, and function. The result? Tailored protein-based therapeutics, encompassing antibodies, gene therapies, and enzymes.
This AI-driven approach previously secured Generate an impressive $370 million in Series B financing back in November 2021. Since then, the company has embarked on a groundbreaking first-in-human study for its COVID-19 candidate GB-0669. Unlike other antibody treatments targeting the virus, GB-0669 zeroes in on a highly conserved and unique region of the virus’s spike protein.
Generate’s innovative prowess extends beyond COVID-19. The company is gearing up to submit a Clinical Trial Application for an investigational monoclonal antibody designed to combat asthma by targeting the thymic stromal lymphopoietin protein. This application is slated for the fourth quarter of 2023, with clinical trials hot on its heels.
But Generate doesn’t stop there. The company has also expanded its drug development platform into bi-specific molecules, T-cell engagers, and cell therapies, promising even more groundbreaking advancements in the world of biomedicine.
During the electrifying Series C financing round, Generate also welcomed new investors MAPS Capital and Pictet Alternative Advisors, joining the ranks alongside industry titans like Amgen and NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm. All previous Series B supporters enthusiastically joined forces once again to fuel Generate’s meteoric rise.