French startup stroke has secured €15.5 million in Series A funding for its AI-powered drug discovery platform.
The round was led by M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation Fund, with participation from Omnes Capital, and will allow Iktos to develop its technology and expand its SaaS software offering. The company is set to launch Robotics, an end-to-end drug discovery platform that uses AI and automation of chemical synthesis to accelerate drug discovery timelines.
Additionally, the company will expand its application of solutions to biological products, enabling it to offer fully integrated drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry.
Iktos, founded in 2016, uses a technology platform for deep learning-based drug design that offers significant productivity gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. The platform is available as professional services and SaaS software Makya, and Spaya, a synthesis planning software based on Iktos’ proprietary AI technology for retrosynthesis. Its AI solutions will accelerate drug discovery while increasing the likelihood of drug candidates reaching clinical development, with collaborations already in place with Janssen, Merck, Pfizer, Servier, Ono, and Teijin.
According to Yann Gaston-Mathé, the President and co-founder of Iktos, “The application of artificial intelligence in early drug discovery and design offers the possibility of a radical change for researchers exploring such chemical universe. The technologies we have developed enable many partners to realize this promise. We welcome our new, experienced, investor syndicate and fresh financing that will enable us to execute our plan of being wanted partner for industry to meet their drug development needs.”
Meanwhile, said Dr. Nadiya Ishnazarova of M Ventures, “We believe that Iktos with its mature technology across generative AI and synthesis planning, and advances in developing a fully integrated drug discovery platform has the potential to provide of a competitive edge for the pharma industry as AI/ML becomes a key feature of R&D.”
Tanja Dowe, CEO of Debiopharm Innovation Fund added, “We are excited to work with an impressive syndicate of strong investors M Ventures and Omnes Capital to support Iktos in implementing its plans to develop advanced end-to -end ability in AIDD.”
The investment round will allow Iktos to continue to be a preferred partner for the pharmaceutical industry, and the launch of Robotics will allow the company to be one of the first to offer fully integrated services in drug discovery sector. With the huge benefits already recognized of its AI solutions, Iktos is poised to play a leading role in the AI-powered drug discovery revolution.