Iktos has raised €15.5m in a Series A funding round to expand its artificial intelligence-based drug discovery technologies and solutions.
The round was co-led by new investors M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation Fund with participation from Omnes Capital.
The financing will enable the company to launch Iktos Robotics; a drug discovery platform which combines artificial intelligence and automation of chemical synthesis.
The artificial intelligence solutions developed by Iktos are aimed to considerably speed up the drug discovery process, while increasing the probability of success of drug candidates reaching clinical development.
Iktos has taken part in more than 50 academic and industrial collaborations, with multiple pharmaceutical and biotech companies such as Janssen, Merck, Pfizer, Servier, Ono and Teijin.
Yann Gaston-Mathé, President and co-founder of Iktos, said: “The search for new drug matter is still a laborious and uncertain quest of exploring a chemical universe composed of virtually infinite number of potential molecules. The application of artificial intelligence to early drug discovery and design offers the possibility of a radical change for researchers exploring such chemical universe.”
Dr Nadiya Ishnazarova of M Ventures, commenting on behalf of the syndicate, added: “Shortening drug discovery cycle times and accelerating processes to clinical entry at lower cost has been a high priority for the industry and clinicians alike. 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.”
