Genesis seizes $52m series A

Genesis Therapeutics, a US-based computational drug design developer advancing Stanford University research, closed a $52m series A round yesterday led by investment firm Rock Springs Capital.
Venture capital firm Felicis Ventures took part in the round, as did Jazz Venture Partners, Harpoon Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Propagator Ventures, Open Field Capital and private investors Mark Leslie and Jeffrey Rothschild.
The deal was filled out by unnamed funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price Associates, as well as Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures and Radical Ventures.
Founded in 2019, Genesis Therapeutics plans to develop small molecule drugs using cloud-based neural networks to select from a repository containing all chemical permutations of molecular compounds – a bioscientific concept known as chemical space.
The platform, known as Dynamic PotentialNet, automatically scours chemical space according to the parameters of the drug design programme and predicts the atoms and chemical bonds that comprise each molecule’s structure.
Genesis will use the capital to progress its R&D roadmap and to hire more software, AI and pharmaceutical-focused specialists.
The spinout will primarily target severe and debilitating diseases, leveraging both internal research and collaborations with partners such as Genentech, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Roche.
Kris Jenner, co-founder and managing partner of Rock Springs, has joined the board of directors following the series A round.
Genesis Therapeutics extends research undertaken by its co-founder and CEO Evan Feinberg, then a graduate student specialised in applying AI to predict molecular properties.
Feinberg said: “AI holds immense promise to catalyse the development of the next generation of highly selective, orally bioavailable molecules, with reduced side effects, for the most impactful drug targets.”
The spinout had already raised $4.1m in a November 2019 seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz that featured Felicis Ventures.