China-headquartered molecular analytics software provider Insilico Medicine completed a $255m series C round today backed by subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firms Eli Lilly and internet group Baidu.
Lilly Asia Ventures and Baidu Ventures joined private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which led the round, and Eight Roads Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of investment and financial services group Fidelity.
Qiming Venture Partners, Pavilion Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Bold Capital Partners, CPE, Formic Ventures, OrbiMed, Mirae Asset Capital, B Capital Group, Deerfield Management, Maison Capital, Lake Bleu Capital, President International Development Corporation, Sequoia Capital China and Sage Partners filled out the round.
Insilico’s Pharma.AI software platform enables users to generate synthetic biological data or new molecular structures designed with specialised properties in order to expedite the drug development process.
Alex Zhavoronkov, Insilico’s founder and chief executive, said: “The artificial intelligence technologies we invented are now demonstrating impressive results in both biology and chemistry delivering valuable and absolutely novel therapeutic assets with high probability of clinical success.
“We are pleased and proud to have gained the recognition and investment from some of the world’s most reputable investors with strong expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry. With their support, we will continue to innovate and bring revolutionary solutions to the pharmaceutical industry.”
Warburg Pincus managing director Min Fang is joining Insilico’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, which brought its overall funding to $312m. Pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec led a $6m round for the company in 2018 that also featured Pavilion Capital and Bold Capital, reportedly increasing its overall funding to $20m.
Insilico added $37m in a 2019 series B round led by Qiming Venture Partners that included Lilly Asia Ventures, Baidu Ventures, Eight Roads Ventures, Pavilion Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Bold Capital Partners and unnamed new and existing investors.
