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Ali Madani, Profluent CEO

‘If You Could Hallucinate a Protein’: Profluent Snags $35M for Generative AI Models

In January 2023, Profluent’s large language model was detailed in a Nature Biotechnology paper, showing that it could create new proteins that functioned like ones found in nature. The upstart was founded by CEO Ali Madani, a former leader of machine learning work at Salesforce Research, and University of Washington School of Medicine assistant professor Alexander Meeske. Read post
Screenshot of the Profluent homepage. "Decoding the language of life with AI"

Profluent Secures $35M in Additional Funding and Key Industry Experts to Scale Foundational AI Models for Biomedicine and Tackle First Vertical in Gene Editing

“Our research at the forefront of AI has enabled Profluent to create large language models that begin to learn the blueprint of nature,” said Ali Madani, Profluent co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “We are moving biology from being constrained by what can be discovered in nature to being able to design precisely according to our needs via AI. The science is real and the time is now to proactively create breakthrough medicines that can transform society.” Read post
Jenny Hamilton at the Innovative Genomics Institute. Photo by Adam Pardee at the San Francisco Business Times

Jenny Hamilton, CEO of Stealth Startup, Featured in Story of Jennifer Doudna’s Women in Enterprising Science Incubator

With its second cohort of young women scientists testing their problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial ambitions, the HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science Program within Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna’s Innovative Genomics Institute is giving rise to a new generation of biotech startups. At the same time, the program is solidifying Doudna’s legacy. Read post
Tim Craven

Dupixent in a Pill? Startup Insamo Will Try To Turn Blockbuster Biologics Into Orals

Berkeley, CA-headquartered Insamo was founded in 2022 by a trio of PhD scientists, who have raised a $12 million seed round that includes investors like venBio and Playground Global, CEO Tim Craven told Endpoints News exclusively. The board includes Playground’s venture partner Matt Hershenson and is chaired by venBio managing partner Corey Goodman. Insamo is developing macrocyclic peptides, which look like ring-shaped mini-proteins. They aim to have the potency of antibody drugs while being small enough to stay orally bioavailable, meaning they could be taken as pills rather than injections or infusions. Read post
Tim Craven

Insamo Pulls $12M Seed Round To Put Peptides Under a Magnifying Glass

Insamo starts by leveraging its AI and ML models to design more than trillions of unique molecules that are all orally bioavailable. Next, the company screens each and every one of the compounds against the target of interest. “It feels like cheating because you get the right answer every time,” Craven said, thanks to Insamo’s one-two punch of at-scale, AI-informed drug design, followed by affinity screenings that look for antibody-like binding. Read post
Paul Bresge of Ray Therapeutics

How a Promise Sparked Ray CEO Paul Bresge’s Quest to Treat a Blinding Disease

One of his daughters, Tamar, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 2010 at the age of 15, when the family was living in Toronto. “We were basically told—in the whole span of . . . maybe two or three minutes—‘You’re going blind, there’s nothing that can be done to save your vision, here is a handbook to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind,’” he said. “That was a real pivotal moment for all of us, particularly her.” Read post
Four scientists from Replace Tx standing on a Bakar Labs balcony

With Funding in Hand, Tome Biosciences Buys Replace Therapeutics for $185M

Replace’s technology combines the site specificity of CRISPR/Cas9 technology with writing enzyme DNA ligase to manipulate small DNA sequences, a company press release stated, which complements Tome’s large DNA PGI technology. Per terms of the deal, Tome will acquire Replace for $65 million upfront and make other near-term milestone payments for a total deal value of up to $185 million through a mix of stock and cash. As a result, Replace will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tome. Read post
Tome Biosciences

Tome Biosciences Acquires Replace Therapeutics

Replace Therapeutics was founded by serial entrepreneur Shakked Halperin, PhD, whose previous company Rewrite Therapeutics was acquired by Intellia Therapeutics, and is backed by Civilization Ventures. The technology combines the site-specificity of CRISPR/Cas9 with the writing enzyme DNA ligase to precisely manipulate small DNA sequences. Read post
Umaro bacon

Umaro Is on C&E News’ Radar

There’s nothing quite like a crispy piece of bacon. But the pork industry releases more greenhouse gases than the entire country of Germany each year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. While some companies make plant-based bacon, the start-up Umaro Foods says existing products lack the key characteristic that makes bacon delicious: crispiness. Read post