Biotech Antiverse raises £1.4m to develop AI drug discovery platform

Biotechnology company Antiverse has raised £1.4 million in seed funding to further develop its artificial intelligence (AI) antibody drug discovery platform which is focused on identifying new therapeutics for cancer, heart and lung diseases.

The funding was raised through the UKI2S Innovate Accelerator and included the investors Development Bank of Wales, Angel Co-Investment Fund, Tensor Ventures, Wren Capital, Ed Parkinson, Cambridge Angels, and SyndicateRoom.

Antiverse is currently exploring ways to combine machine learning with a lab technique known as phage display, in order to model interactions between antibodies and antigens. Antiverse’s AI platform currently uses next generation sequencing and AI to provide diverse antibody candidates for a given target. The company aims to use the platform to help enable the development of drugs for “difficult” targets associated with cancer, heart and lung diseases.

A portion of the funding will be used to build a laboratory in Cardiff, Wales and expand the technical team by recruiting machine learning engineers, laboratory scientists and structural biologists.

Murat Tunaboylu, chief executive officer of Antiverse, said: “Our investors recognise the potential of our AI-powered antibody drug discovery platform to provide a breakthrough in the industry. With our technology, it will be possible to develop drugs for difficult targets and ultimately reduce drug discovery timescales from years to weeks. In addition to platform development, the funding will enable us to invest in facilities and recruitment; we are grateful to our investors and Innovate UK for their continued support.”

Rafael Joseph, Development Bank of Wales, commented: “Together with our Wales Angel Co-Investment Fund, the Development Bank is helping more Welsh businesses to grow with equity funding; creating impact for the benefit of the Welsh economy. Our angel syndicates and networks are active across Wales and we are delighted to be supporting Antiverse on its journey with our seed investment. The Company really is at the cutting edge of using AI to augment and speed up the drug discovery process. Their work is transformational and it’s very exciting that it is happening here in Wales.”