Aqemia, a French startup that combines “quantum-inspired physics” and machine learning to discover new drugs, has raised $38 million in a new funding round led by San Francisco-based VC firm Cathay Innovation. Procured.
This is Aqemia's second round of funding this year, with the company announcing a €30 million (approximately $31.5 million) raise in January. This brings the company's total funding to over $100 million.
Founded in Paris in 2019 by Maximilien Lévesque and Emmanuel Rolandmartiano (pictured above), Aqemia is one of countless startups applying AI to drug discovery. In 2024 alone, companies like Healx raised $47 million to tackle rare diseases. Formation Bio, backed by Sam Altman, has raised $372 million. Zaira then emerges from stealth with a whopping $1 billion in cash.
Meanwhile, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and director John Jumper shared half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on Alphafold, an AI system that accurately predicts protein structures essential for drug discovery.
Aqemia, meanwhile, uses physics and statistical mechanics algorithms to train its generative AI system, which it says will help design potential drug candidates for “critical diseases.” The initial focus will be oncology (cancer) and immuno-oncology (using the body's immune system to fight cancer).
According to the company, this approach to training AI eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming experimental data, and instead uses algorithms to generate essentially synthetic data, identifying the properties of potential drug molecules and their It is possible to predict how the target will interact with the target.
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It's clear that AI-powered drug discovery is a hot topic right now, and Aqemia itself is already making strides in the industry. Last December, the startup signed a multi-year deal with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi that could be worth up to $140 million depending on the outcome of certain research and development milestones. .
With $38 million in new money in the bank, the company is now gearing up to ramp up its hiring efforts. This includes a new office in London, scheduled to open in early 2025, a move aimed at giving Achmir “access to the UK's rich talent pool,” according to a press release. The participation of a global VC firm like Cathay Innovation could open the door to new markets.
“Less than a year since our last round, this successful funding and the opening of our new London office marks a significant step forward in our ambition to accelerate the discovery of new medicines globally. ” Levesque said in a statement. “Our partnership with Cathay Innovation brings international expertise, particularly in the US and Asia, and strengthens our vision and mission.”
In addition to lead backer Cathay Innovation, Akmia's latest round included participation from existing investors Wendel, BP France Large Venture, Eurazeo and Elia.