This startup is using AI to give failed drugs a second chance. Check out the pitch deck it used to attract investors.
Ignota Labs is leveraging AI technology to repurpose failed drugs for new therapeutic uses. The company recently secured $6.9 million in funding from investors through a successful pitch deck presentation. This investment will support their efforts to bring these repurposed drugs to market, potentially offering new treatment options for various medical conditions. Ignota Labs' innovative approach has garnered attention and support from the investment community. Their work highlights the potential of AI in drug development and healthcare innovation.
The Ignota Labs Leadership Team
Ignota Labs uses AI to pinpoint the cause of toxicity problems in failed drugs. The startup recently raised $6.9 million to modify drugs for another chance at clinical trials.
The Pitch Deck
Sam Windsor thinks some failed drugs deserve a second chance and his startup, Ignota Labs, is betting AI can turn that into a moneymaker. Instead of starting from scratch, the startup acquires abandoned drug candidates, diagnoses their safety problems using AI, and modifies compounds for another attempt at clinical trials.
"Traditional drug discovery might cost over $10 million and take seven to eight years just to reach clinical trials," Windsor, who is the startup's CEO, told Business Insider. "Our approach can achieve the same in less than two years and for under $1 million."
That thesis caught the attention of investors, with the startup recently raising $6.9 million in a seed round co-led by Montage Ventures and AIX Ventures. Modi Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and Gaingels also provided investment.
Windsor says the Cambridge, UK-based company is focusing on an area of pharmaceutical technology that he thinks other startups have overlooked.
"In 2021, there were so many AI drug discovery companies popping up," said Windsor, who previously spent a decade working on health tech commercialization. However, those startups were less focused on drugs that already exist because, in his view, safety science isn't a natural draw for entrepreneurs looking to change the world.
"Safety is seen as sort of like a hurdle you have to get over rather than the exciting end goal in its own right," Windsor said. "People with the stereotypical 'let's go change the world' mindset aren't the sort who end up in safety science."
Ignota Labs focuses on drugs that were 80-90% of the way to success before being scrapped due to safety issues. The startup says its proprietary AI platform identifies the root cause of toxicity and provides recommendations for chemical adjustments.
Windsor said the last two and a half years had been a difficult fundraising environment. "We had to kiss a lot of frogs along the way," he said. "We really had to find the right investors."
The startup plans to use the fresh funding to acquire more distressed assets and advance its first drug, a PDE9A inhibitor for treating Alzheimer's, into early trials.