French startup Iktos has secured €15.5 million in Series A funding for its AI-powered drug discovery platform.
The round was co-led by M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation Fund, with participation from Omnes Capital, and will enable Iktos to develop its technology further and expand its SaaS software offering. The company is set to launch Robotics, an end-to-end drug discovery platform that uses AI and automation of chemical synthesis to accelerate drug discovery timelines.
Additionally, the company will expand its application of solutions to biological products, allowing it to offer fully integrated drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry.
Iktos, which was founded in 2016, uses a technology platform for deep learning-based drug design that offers significant productivity gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. The platform is available as professional services and SaaS software Makya, and Spaya, a synthesis planning software based on Iktos’ proprietary AI technology for retrosynthesis. Its AI solutions will accelerate drug discovery while increasing the likelihood of drug candidates reaching clinical development, with collaborations already in place with Janssen, Merck, Pfizer, Servier, Ono, and Teijin.
According to Yann Gaston-Mathé, the President and co-founder of Iktos, “The application of artificial intelligence to early drug discovery and design offers the possibility of a radical change for researchers exploring such a chemical universe. The technologies we have developed have been enabling multiple partners in realizing this promise. We welcome our new, experienced, investor syndicate and fresh financing that will allow us to execute our plan of being the preferred partner for the industry to address their drug development needs.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Nadiya Ishnazarova of M Ventures stated, “We believe Iktos with its mature technology across generative AI and synthesis planning, and advancements in building fully integrated drug discovery platform has the potential to provide a competitive edge for the pharma industry as AI/ML becomes a core feature of R&D.”
Tanja Dowe, CEO of Debiopharm Innovation Fund added, “We are very excited to collaborate with an impressive syndicate of strong investors M Ventures and Omnes Capital to support Iktos in executing its plans to develop cutting-edge end-to-end AIDD capabilities.”
The investment round will enable Iktos to continue to be a preferred partner for the pharmaceutical industry, and the launch of Robotics will enable the company to become one of the first to offer fully integrated drug discovery services to the sector. With significant benefits already recognized in its AI solutions, Iktos is poised to play a leading role in the AI-powered drug discovery revolution.
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