The documentation that must be done in parallel with new drug development is a very labor-intensive process. There is not much software used and there is a lack of professional writers. Paris-based Biolevate helps medical writers get their work done faster using NLP and a platform that goes from visual document reading to writing assistance. It has now raised €6 million in a seed funding round led by EQT Ventures.
CEO Joel Berrafa told TechCrunch: “Nathan Chen (COO) and I have been friends for 25 years. We both understand how slow and difficult research and development of therapeutics and access to market can be, and the serious impact this has on patients and the economy at large. We have long shared the same professional grievances about how we are giving.”
Even though the pace of drug development is accelerating with the help of AI, the biotech industry still needs to document everything, and this is an area where it is currently lagging behind. Pharmaceutical companies are required to produce documentation that satisfies regulatory authorities, creating a significant administrative burden.
By combining Chen's understanding of pharmaceutical processes (which he learned at Danish healthcare company Coloplast) and Verafa's corporate AI expertise (he was employee number 20 at French AI unicorn Datik), , the two launched the first prototype called Elise. The project attracted the attention of Anas Laaroussi and Antoine De Torcy, who joined as CTO and CPO respectively.
The company, which was recently named to Station F's Future 40 list, uses NLP and computer vision to optimize the creation and management of research and compliance documents, effectively acting as an AI assistant for medical document authors .
Berafa told TechCrunch:
Julien Hobeika, partner at EQT Ventures, commented in a statement: “There is a huge opportunity in using AI to make medical documentation more efficient, and the team at Biolevate offers a great solution that transforms the medical documentation process into a seamless and effective procedure. and promote scientific progress that benefits society.”
And what happens if the strategy in its current form doesn't work? Berafa said, “We could commercialize our platform as a service for other industries, sell individual models as APIs, or sell specialized drug discovery services. We plan to use it to provide services.”