Artificial Intelligence: Atomic AI Closes $35M Series ‘A’ For RNA Drug Discovery
Atomic AI had previously raised a $7 million seed round.
Atomic AI, a biotechnology company, has developed a proprietary, AI-driven ‘Platform for AI-driven RNA Structure Exploration’ (PARSE). PARSE is a 3D RNA structure discovery engine that can vastly improve RNA structure prediction and develop a new generation of RNA-targeting medicines to tackle diseases that were previously untreatable. The company came out of stealth with a $35 million Series A round led by Playground Global, with participation from 8VC, Factory HQ, Greylock, NotBoring, AME Cloud Ventures, and renowned angel investors including GitHub ex-CEO Nat Friedman, Doug Mohr, Curai CEO Neal Khosla, and UC Berkeley professor and Arc Institute Co-founder Patrick Hsu. (Businesswire)
“To create effective and safer small molecules against undruggable diseases, there is a significant need to develop tools that can accurately predict 3D RNA structures,” said Raphael Townshend, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Atomic AI. “Atomic AI is oriented at the cutting edge of AI, RNA, and structural biology. We are creating an entirely new field of drug discovery.” Dr. Raphael Townshend was recognized in Forbes’ 30 under 30 for Science in 2023.
Atomic AI’s technology can discover structured, ligandable RNA motifs at unprecedented speed and accuracy, a critical barrier to current approaches in small molecule drug discovery against RNA. Beyond RNA-targeted molecules, the integrated platform will also enable the design of RNA-based medicines and RNA tools.
“There are well-known RNA sequences that play a critical role in driving disease; however, current technologies lack the RNA-structure modeling capabilities necessary to create confidence in RNA-targeting drug discovery,” said Gene Yeo, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), an expert in RNA biology and member of Atomic AI’s advisory board. “Atomic has created a sophisticated and integrated AI engine that will transform the discovery and development of RNA-targeted medicines.”
Related Story: Atomwise To Collaborate With Sanofi On AI-Powered Drug Discovery
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