Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, announced on Monday the close of its oversubscribed Series E funding round at about $123 million.
Led by Hong Kong-based asset management firm Value Partners Group, the Series E round surpassed Insilico’s initial target and followed an earlier announcement by the company in March when the fundraising size reached $110 million.
“Strong investor interest” boosted the Series E funding size, with additional funding from new investors like Grand Leader, and existing shareholders, including Prosperity7 Ventures. A diverse group of “new industry- and technology-focused investors” participated in the deal, said Insilico in a Monday statement.
Warburg Pincus and a few government investment funds from the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Wuxi are also among Insilico’s Series E investors, with their equity financing agreements signed earlier this year, DealStreetAsia reported in January.
The completion of the Series E financing comes just over one month after Insilico filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong after two previous attempts to go public in the city over the past two years.
Insilico was founded in 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland, in the US, as part of the Emerging Technology Centre at Johns Hopkins University. The company announced in 2024 that it had moved its global headquarters to Boston. It has a significant presence in mainland China, with a lab in Suzhou and Hong Kong, where it has an office at Science Park.
One of the world’s major companies using AI as a primary tool for developing new drugs, the company generates revenue from both out-licensing and providing its generative AI drug discovery software as a service.
By integrating AI and automation technologies, it has built a wholly-owned pipeline of over 30 assets, 10 of which have received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance, said Insilico. According to its prospectus, three of its drug candidates are out-licensed to international pharmaceutical and healthcare companies with a total contract value of over $2 billion.
“The oversubscribed completion of the Series E round is a milestone that not only accelerates the growth of our innovative pipeline and AI technologies but also underscores the industry’s recognition of our capabilities,” said Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov, Insilico’s founder and co-CEO.
Zhavoronkov holds a stake of 10.09% in Insilico, followed by Mesolite, an investment vehicle of Warburg Pincus, which holds 10.03% shares, according to the prospectus.
The Series E financing will be allocated to advance Insilico’s innovative drug pipeline and further develop its AI platform to drive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. A portion of the resources will be dedicated to refining AI models and algorithms, as well as updating and expanding Insilico’s automated laboratory to further streamline R&D processes.
The company also plans to prioritise the clinical validation of its AI-driven proprietary and partnered drug programmes.
The latest round brings Insilico’s overall fundraising to over $500 million; its post-money valuation had already crossed $1.3 billion this January.
Besides the aforementioned investors, its star-studded cap table includes the likes of HongShan (previously Sequoia Capital China), Qiming Venture Partners, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), Hillhouse Investment, Baidu Ventures, and Chinese biopharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec.
