Xaira Therapeutics, a new biotech aiming to “re-engineer” drug discovery and development using artificial intelligence (AI), has launched with more than $1bn in committed funding.
The US-based company was jointly incubated by ARCH Venture Partners and Foresite Labs, and co-founded by David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
It will combine machine learning, data generation and therapeutic product development to help “transform” the drug discovery and development process and provide more effective therapies to patients faster.
Xaira employs a group of researchers who developed models for protein and antibody design, RFdiffusion and RFantibody, in Baker’s lab, with the company’s broader team now set to advance these models and develop new methods that can “connect the world of biological targets and engineered molecules to the human experience of disease”.
It is led by Marc Tessier-Lavigne, former chief scientific officer of Genentech, with the executive team also comprising co-founder Hetu Kamisetty, previously of Meta and the Institute for Protein Design, as well as former Genentech executives Arvind Rajpal and Don Kirkpatrick.
Tessier-Lavigne said: “In my previous roles, I witnessed an earlier generation of technologies fundamentally change drug discovery, delivering new medicines that alleviate the burden of disease for many patients.
“Now, witnessing how AI is impacting other industries and the considerable progress in applications of AI in biology, I believe we are poised for a revolution.”
He added that Xaira is in “a strong position to both advance fundamental AI research and translate these advances into transformative new medicines”.
Beyond ARCH and Foresite, the financing also included F-Prime, NEA, Sequoia Capital, Lux Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Byers Capital, Rsquared and SV Angel, among others.
Robert Nelsen, managing director and co-founder of ARCH Venture Partners, said: “We have reached the point where AI finally allows us to see biology in new ways and translate those discoveries to better treatments for disease.
“This creates an enormous opportunity for us to rethink drug discovery entirely. For this reason, Xaira is the largest initial funding commitment in ARCH history.”