The latest biotech aiming to use AI to accelerate drug discovery emerged from stealth on 23 April flush with over $1 billion in venture capital. San Francisco–based Xaira Therapeutics envisions an end-to-end application of AI technologies, from applying fundamental computational methods for biological discovery, to de novo antibody generation, to managing human trials. The foundational technologies, AI-based models for protein and antibody design called RFdiffusion and RFantibody, were developed in the lab of co-founder David Baker at the University of Washington’s Institute of Protein Design. Several Baker lab researchers have joined the company full time, as have teams from Illumina and Interline Therapeutics. Xaira’s other co-founders include lead investors Bob Nelsen of Arch Venture Partners and Vik Bajaj at Foresite Labs, an incubator affiliated with Foresite Capital.

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, former CSO at Genentech and former president of Rockefeller and Stanford Universities, has been named CEO. “Witnessing how AI is impacting other industries and the considerable progress in applications of AI in biology, I believe we are poised for a revolution,” said Tessier-Lavigne in a statement. “Xaira is in a strong position to both advance fundamental AI research and translate these advances into transformative new medicines, and I am excited to have the opportunity to lead the team.” The company’s high-powered board includes Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb and former Johnson & Johnson chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky.

旨在利用人工智能加速药物发现的最新生物技术于 4 月 23 日悄然出现，获得了超过 10 亿美元的风险投资。总部位于旧金山的 Xaira Therapeutics 设想了人工智能技术的端到端应用，从应用生物发现的基本计算方法，到从头生成抗体，再到管理人体试验。基础技术、基于人工智能的蛋白质和抗体设计模型（称为 RFdiffusion 和 RFantibody）是由华盛顿大学蛋白质设计研究所联合创始人 David Baker 的实验室开发的。几位贝克实验室研究人员以及来自 Illumina 和 Interline Therapeutics 的团队已全职加入该公司。 Xaira 的其他联合创始人包括 Arch Venture Partners 的主要投资者 Bob Nelsen 和 Foresite Labs（隶属于 Foresite Capital 的孵化器）的 Vik Bajaj。

基因泰克公司前 CSO、洛克菲勒大学和斯坦福大学前校长 Marc Tessier-Lavigne 被任命为首席执行官。 Tessier-Lavigne 在一份声明中表示：“见证了人工智能如何影响其他行业，以及人工智能在生物学领域的应用取得了长足进步，我相信我们已经做好了迎接一场革命的准备。” “Xaira 在推进基础人工智能研究并将这些进步转化为变革性新药方面处于有利地位，我很高兴有机会领导该团队。”该公司的高层董事会包括诺贝尔奖获得者卡罗琳·贝尔托齐、美国食品和药物管理局前局长斯科特·戈特利布以及强生公司前董事长兼首席执行官亚历克斯·戈尔斯基。