Weekly Tech+Bio Highlights #41: Fortnight Overview
AI Benchmarks, Models, & Gene Editing Startups—$700M+ in New Biotech Funding
Over the past two weeks, activity in AI-driven biomedicine centered on model development and workflow integration. OpenAI released a healthcare benchmark with 5,000 medical conversations, while academic groups introduced models for mRNA stability, gene target identification, and KRAS compound generation using a hybrid quantum–classical approach.
Several startups launched or expanded with platform-based approaches. Stylus Medicine emerged from stealth with $85M for recombinase-based gene editing; Valinor Discovery launched to simulate drug effects in virtual patients (and, down the line, automate clinical trials); Persist AI raised $12M for robotic drug formulation; Optura secured $6.5M to coordinate healthcare AI deployments; and CryoCloud brought in €2M to scale automated cryo-EM analysis.
Funding activity included Pathos AI’s $365M Series D for oncology trials, Biostate AI’s $12M round for RNA diagnostics, Regeneron’s $256M acquisition of 23andMe assets, and the Dementia Discovery Fund closing a $269M raise to support precision neuroscience programs.
The highlights above are a quick summary—hyperlinked stories with more detail are organized in the sections below.
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🤖 AI x Bio
(AI applications in drug discovery, biotech, and healthcare)
🔹 OpenAI launches a new benchmark to test AI in real-world healthcare—Built with 262 physicians, the open-source benchmark features 5,000 realistic multi-turn medical conversations and 48,562 expert-crafted criteria, enabling rigorous evaluation of LLMs like GPT-4.1 on clinical relevance and communication.
🔹 Meta open-sources atomic-scale AI model for discovery. Its UMA model simulates 100 million atomic interactions and replicates density functional theory results up to 10,000 times faster, targeting advances in drugs, materials, and batteries.
🔹 OpenAI and Babylon Biosciences fine-tune AI models using reinforcement learning to predict clinical trial outcomes, boosting AUC accuracy across 430 trials.
🔹 AI-designed antibody enters clinic for IBD—Absci has begun a Phase 1 trial of its TL1A-targeting antibody, testing safety and PK in ~40 volunteers.
🔹 Lokavant launches AI tool to forecast trial enrollment replacing manual feasibility planning with 5-minute AI forecasts using data from 500,000+ trials, enabling dynamic, scenario-based planning.
🔹 A team of Chinese researchers developed Pose, a benchmark showing AI outperforms physics-based methods in molecular docking. In cross-docking tasks, models like Uni-Mol and SurfDock achieved over 75% success, surpassing traditional tools by more than 40%.
🔹 Cells can now predict the future with a simple genetic circuit—Researchers at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Santa Fe Institute engineered a minimal two-gene system that enables cells to anticipate environmental trends by comparing short- and long-term signal averages, demonstrating robust predictive behavior even in noisy, random conditions—offering a new blueprint for adaptive synthetic biology and biologically inspired AI.
🔹 Kvantify taps Gefion AI supercomputer for quantum-scale drug discovery—the Danish startup simulates future quantum systems to model complex molecules and engineer enzymes beyond current quantum hardware limits.
🔹 Receptor.AI team has developed a hybrid LLM workflow to automate the validation and prioritization of protein binding pockets, streamlining literature mining and mapping with geometry-based pocket detection for molecular docking.
🔹 AI model uses hypergraphs to find gene targets—Researchers at Pusan National University created a hypergraph-based AI that outperforms existing tools in identifying therapeutic genes with high accuracy and explainability to streamline early-stage drug discovery.
🔹 Harvard and Roche launch AI to decode immunotherapy response—Trained on 10,000+ tumor RNA samples, their COMPASS foundation model predicts and explains immune checkpoint inhibitor outcomes across 33 cancers.
🔹 Deep Genomics debuts AI foundation model for mRNA stability prediction. The new model forecasts microRNA binding and mRNA degradation from sequence data, outperforming existing tools and supporting RNA therapy design, with academic access now available via GitHub.
🔹 Researchers developed a hybrid quantum–classical generative model for small-molecule design, synthesizing 15 AI-generated KRAS-targeting compounds for cancer therapy, with two showing promise as inhibitors.
🔹 NOETIK is training a virtual cell model on NanoString’s raw spatial transcriptomics data, simulating T cell movement through tumors to infer gene expression and highlight targets like TIGIT.
🔹 AI turns DNA into 3D faces—Chinese researchers in Advanced Science built an AI model that reconstructs realistic human faces from genetic data with high accuracy, offering forensic potential but raising privacy concerns.
🚜 Market Movers
(News from established pharma and tech giants)
🔹 RA Capital’s biotech incubator Raven initiates layoffs, cutting admin, support, and AI/ML teams amid industry-wide belt-tightening and internal calls to reassess operations.
🔹 Lantern Pharma highlights Q1 progress in AI and oncology trials—CEO Panna Sharma cited expansion to over 200B oncology data points, new initiatives, and nearing full enrollment for LP-184’s Phase 1a, with FDA-cleared trials in TNBC and resistant lung cancer.
🔹 Boehringer taps Tempus AI to boost cancer R&D in a multi-year deal. Boehringer Ingelheim will use Tempus’ multimodal patient data and AI tools for biomarker discovery, patient stratification, and oncology drug development across its pipeline.
🔹 Schrödinger lays off 60 staff to cut $30M in costs. The computational drug discovery company is reducing its workforce by 7% while continuing to advance its software platform and three Phase 1 oncology programs.
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💰 Money Flows
(Funding rounds, IPOs, and M&A for startups and smaller companies)
🔹 Pathos AI raises $365M in series D to support trials of solid tumor drugs licensed from Novo Nordisk and Prelude Therapeutics, reaching a $1.6B post-money valuation.
🔹 Biostate AI raises $12M to scale RNA diagnostics—Backed by Accel, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, and InfoEdge Ventures, Biostate AI is building a massive RNA sequencing dataset and foundation model to predict disease and therapy response, with over 10,000 samples processed and major clinical partnerships underway.
🔹 Haya Therapeutics raises $65M to drug the dark genome—backed by Sofinnova, Earlybird, and Lilly, Haya is developing RNA therapies targeting long non-coding RNAs like Wisper for cardiac fibrosis, aiming to reprogram disease cell states and expand into fibrosis and metabolic diseases.
🔹 Persist AI debuts robotic Cloud Lab, raises $12M with backing from Spero, Lilly, Shimadzu, and others, Persist AI launched an automated platform for pharma formulation, allegedly cutting labor by 90% and development time by 50%, while planning GMP expansion for long-acting injectables.
🔹 Dementia Discovery Fund raises $269M, tops $550M total—Backed by Gates Ventures, Lilly, Pfizer, and others, DDF closed its second fund to invest in precision neuroscience, building a 10–15 company portfolio across the US and Europe.
🔹 France backs gene-editing skin therapy with $5M grant—Eligo Bioscience will scale its platform that programs skin bacteria to produce therapeutic proteins for treating immune-related skin conditions.
🔹 Hinge Health IPOs with sensor-driven therapy platform—The company, which uses wearable sensors and computer vision to treat musculoskeletal pain remotely, raised $437M at a $3B valuation—half its 2021 private valuation.
🔹 Regeneron buys 23andMe assets for $256M, acquiring its consumer genomics services, biobank, and research tools. Regeneron aims to integrate 23andMe’s data into its genetics-driven drug discovery while pledging to maintain privacy protections.
🔹 Datavant acquires Aetion to expand into real-world evidence analytics—The deal combines Datavant’s network of 300+ data partners with Aetion’s analytics to offer end-to-end real-world evidence tools for biopharma and regulators, now available via AWS Marketplace.
🔹 Blueprint updates $1.67B deal with Roivant spinout VantAI to target molecular glues—the revised pact uses VantAI’s AI model to design protein-protein interaction drugs for undruggable targets, with up to $270M in R&D milestones and potential for expanded programs.
🔹 Reperio Health raises $14M to expand AI-powered home screenings—Backed by Caduceus Capital, Reperio offers instant-result preventive health kits with real-time virtual care.
⚙️ Other Tech
(Innovations across quantum computing, BCIs, gene editing, and more)
🔹 NIH BRAIN backs 1,000+ AAV tools for brain cell targeting—A consortium led by the Allen Institute released a massive toolkit of enhancer AAVs enabling precise gene expression in brain cell types, supporting targeted therapies and published across eight Cell Press journals.
🔹 Distinguishing AI Agents from Agentic AI: A recent paper outlines key differences between traditional AI agents (task-specific, reactive systems) and agentic AI, which involves coordinated multi-agent systems with memory, planning, and orchestration layers for complex tasks.
🔹 Leading cell and gene therapy organizations like ARM and ISCT call for a 10-year international moratorium on heritable human genome editing (HHGE), citing insufficient safety and the need for global ethical and regulatory dialogue.
🔹 FDA clears first blood test for Alzheimer's diagnosis—Fujirebio’s Lumipulse G test detects amyloid buildup with over 90% accuracy.
🔹 MIT unveils first wearable for real-time single-cell blood monitoring—the smartwatch-sized device tracks labeled circulating cells continuously at single-cell resolution.
🔹 BlackfinBio cleared to trial gene therapy for rare motor disorder. The FDA approved a Phase 1/2 study of an AAV-delivered AP4B1 gene therapy for SPG47, a severe childhood condition with no treatments, to begin in late 2025 at Boston Children’s Hospital.
🔹 Cognixion and Blackrock Neurotech partner on brain-computer interface distribution: Blackrock will distribute Cognixion’s non-invasive Axon-R BCI device, designed with AI and AR to restore communication in individuals with severe disabilities.
🔹 CRISPR therapy saves infant with rare metabolic disorder—Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia used a custom lipid nanoparticle-delivered CRISPR treatment developed in under 6 months to correct CPS1 deficiency in a newborn, avoiding liver transplant.
🔹 Tinnitus device shows 91% success in real-world study—A Nature Communications Medicine study of 220 patients found Neuromod’s FDA-approved, non-invasive device significantly reduced symptoms in over 91% after 12 weeks
🔹 A University of Pennsylvania team led by postdocs Ruchao Peng and Xin Xu published in Science, using cryo-EM/ET to uncover the structure of the influenza ribonucleoprotein complex and its strand-sliding mechanism—offering new insights for antiviral development.
🔹 First 3D cochlea view without surgery—Japanese researchers used terahertz imaging to non-invasively reconstruct the mouse cochlea in 3D, offering a high-resolution alternative to invasive or low-detail methods.
🔹 NeoGenomics is partnering with Ultima Genomics to develop cancer diagnostics using a platform that delivers over 10 billion reads per wafer at $0.24 per million reads.
🔹 Molecular Devices launched an automated colony picking system that replaces manual workflows with over 95% efficiency and near-perfect accuracy, using multimodal imaging and agar sensing for precise microbial selection in compact lab setups.
🔹 Rubedo starts first human trial of AI-designed GPX4 drug—The Phase 1 study tests topical RLS-1496 in psoriasis, aiming to clear senescent cells linked to inflammation and aging.
🏛️ Bioeconomy & Society
(News on centers, regulatory updates, and broader biotech ecosystem developments)
🔹 AI tools drive surge in low-quality health studies—Researchers from the University of Surrey report in PLoS Biology that hundreds of low-quality studies using U.S. NHANES health data follow formulaic patterns (likely AI-assisted) linking single variables to complex diseases without statistical rigor.
🔹 Portal Innovations is about to open a 30,000-square-foot biotech incubator in New Brunswick, NJ as a part of New Jersey Innovation Hub, offering lab space, seed funding, and investor access to startups from Rutgers, Princeton, and NJIT.
🔹 The SciFounders co-founder Alex Schubert shared why they pass on 99%+ of startups, highlighting 7 key factors that separate standout pitches from the rest—based on insights from ~500 early-stage teams applying to their $1M fellowship.
🔹 Philips survey reveals AI trust gap in healthcare—While 63% of clinicians see AI improving outcomes, only 48% of patients agree—dropping to 33% among older adults.
🚀 A New Kid on the Block
(Emerging startups with a focus on technology)
🔹 Valinor Discovery launches to simulate drug effects in virtual patients—Using matched multi-omics and clinical data, the startup aims to predict treatment response before trials, with oncology models debuting in six months and collaborations underway at Stanford and Helmholtz Munich.
🔹 Optura raises $6.5M to unify healthcare AI efforts—Funded by Susa and Matrix, Optura launched an AI operating system to manage and scale healthcare AI projects, turning scattered pilots into coordinated deployments across clinical and operational use cases.
🔹 CryoCloud raises €2M to scale automated cryo-EM analysis—The Dutch startup’s cloud platform supports high-throughput structural biology in over 25 countries with petabyte storage, GPU access, and ML-powered tools.
🔹 CRISPR specialist Patrick Hsu, a researcher at UC Berkeley, has launched Stylus Medicine from stealth with $85M to develop CAR-T therapies using a recombinase-based gene editing platform designed to be simpler and more versatile than CRISPR.
🏥 Digital Health & Care Delivery
(Tools, platforms, and technologies for patient care and clinical workflows)
🔹 World’s first AI clinic opens in Saudi Arabia—China’s Synyi AI launches an autonomous clinic in partnership with Almoosa Health Group, featuring an AI “doctor” that interacts with patients, diagnoses, and recommends treatments (reviewed by human physicians for safety).
🔹 Experity launches AI partner network for urgent care serving over 5,700 clinics. Experity now integrates third-party AI tools for records, billing, scheduling, and CME, reporting major gains like reducing missed calls from 50% to 5% and claim resubmissions below 1%.
📊 Data & Real-World Evidence Infrastructure
(Platforms for health data and real-world analytics)
🔹 Oracle overhauls EHR to go AI-native, replacing Cerner’s legacy stack, Oracle’s new cloud-based platform supports voice queries, ambient notes, and clinician-adaptive tools, aiming to fix EHR complexity and deeply embed AI across healthcare workflows.
🔹 Owkin and CHUV–Lausanne published a benchmarking study in Nature Portfolio Communications, comparing Visium, Chromium, and GeoMx DSP on archived tumor samples from breast cancer, NSCLC, and DLBCL. Findings show Visium and Chromium suit high-throughput exploration, while GeoMx fits targeted studies.
🔹 HorizonX Consulting and The Quantum Insider launch the Quantum Index – Life Sciences, the first benchmark tracking how pharma and healthcare leaders like Merck, Moderna and Cleveland Clinic are adopting quantum tech across R&D, workforce, and infrastructure.
🔹 Largest study on radiologist–AI collaboration released. The Collab-CXR dataset captures over 73k diagnostic decisions from 227 radiologists across 104 chest X-ray pathologies, testing how clinical history and AI support affect accuracy, speed, and confidence.
🔹 Atropos Health added Ontada’s iKnowMed oncology data to its “evidence network”, expanding coverage to over 1.4 million patients across 80+ tumor types.
🔹 Phesi finds colorectal cancer leads in real-world data volume—Analyzing 167M patient records, Phesi reports nearly 6M colorectal cancer cases, but flags inefficiencies like low biomarker use in lung trials and uneven site performance across cancer studies.
🔹 Medable upgrades cancer trial platform with AI ahead of ASCO—The new release streamlines oncology studies with tools for remote participation, eCOAs, and faster setup, now supporting nearly 400 trials in 70 countries.
Cover: Cropped detail from Landscape with Couple Walking and Crescent Moon (1890) by Vincent van Gogh, featuring the moon in the new moon-waxing crescent phase. Public domain.
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