Founders: Molly Gibson, Gevorg Grigoryan, Geoff von Maltzahn, Avak Kahvejian, Noubar Afeyan
CEO: Mike Nally
Launched: 2018
Headquarters: Somerville, Massachusetts
Funding: $693 million (PitchBook)
Valuation: $2 billion (PitchBook)
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, deep neural networks/deep learning, generative AI, machine learning, robotics
Industry: Biotech
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0
In health care, generative AI is revolutionizing drug discovery, the process of identifying new candidates to develop into medicines. Drug discovery has historically been a time-consuming process involving lots of trial and error. Most drug candidates fail and never make it to patients. Modern-day drug discovery involves significant investments by pharmaceutical companies and governments.
Generate: Biomedicines is among a new group of companies using generative AI to speed up the drug discovery process, reducing development time and cost. While trial and error is unavoidable, gen AI can help researchers identify promising ideas. Generate: Biomedicines was founded by Flagship Pioneering, which also helped launch former No. 1 Disruptor Moderna. The company's focus is on creating new proteins that can treat diseases. In 2023, the company moved two potential drugs into clinical trials and identified 19 other potential candidate drugs.
The company works with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms and research institutions to focus on oncology, infectious disease, and immunology. It has partnerships with Amgen, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center. The company opened a new lab in July, its new CryoEM facility in Andover, Mass. In September, Generate: Biomedicines raised $273 million. To date, the company has raised $700 million from Flagship Pioneering, Amgen and Nvidia, among others.
Generate: Biomedicines faces significant competition in the startup space, from Isomorphic Labs, which was founded by the CEO of Alphabet's DeepMind, to Big Hat Biosciences and Seismic Therapeutics. Pharmaceutical giants such as Eli Lilly are also integrating generative AI into their R&D efforts to speed up drug discovery. In April, Moderna said it would use AI to advance its messenger RNA technology.
Tech giants are active in the space as well. Google Cloud has two new AI-powered tools for drug discovery, while Nvidia is pushing deep into healthcare with its AI chips and AI platforms and services, investing not only in Generate: Biomedicines, but $50 million in Recursion Pharmaceuticals to speed up that biotech firm's AI models for drug discovery.
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