Chai Discovery, a biotechnology startup making revolutionary strides in drug discovery using artificial intelligence, has secured $70 million in funding, boosting its valuation to $550 million. The funding round included participation from Menlo Ventures, Thrive Capital, OpenAI, DST Global Partners, and Yosemite, a cancer-focused investment fund founded by Steve Jobs' son.
Founded in 2023 by Joshua Meier and Jack Dent, Chai Discovery focuses on developing faster and more effective drugs for hard-to-treat diseases. The company has developed an AI model that accelerates the design of molecules capable of targeting specific disease-causing proteins and altering their functions.
Their latest model, Chai-2, can design antibodies from scratch by targeting disease-causing proteins. In trials involving 50 protein targets, the company achieved successful results in one out of every six proteins tested. By comparison, traditional drug discovery methods see success in only one out of every 1,000 proteins.
Chai’s co-founder Jack Dent describes traditional drug development as "trying millions of keys to find the one that fits a lock." He added, "Now, we can identify the target protein and design a specific ‘key’ for it. This marks the transition from analog to digital in the biopharma world."
Although AI-discovered molecules show promise in early clinical stages, no AI-based drug has yet received official approval. Chai’s CEO Joshua Meier noted, "Many brilliant ideas in biotechnology have ended in disappointment, but now we have a stronger technological foundation."
Additionally, the company announced that former Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten has joined its board of directors.
This investment and these advancements are set to strengthen Chai Discovery’s role in AI-driven drug discovery, paving the way for more effective treatments in the future.
