Antiverse raises £1.4m to bolster AI antibody drug discovery platform

Cardiff, Wales-based biotech company Antiverse has raised £1.4m to further advance the development of its AI antibody drug discovery platform.

The £1.4m seed funding comprises new investment and match funding from the UKI2S Innovate Accelerator, as well as investment from Development Bank of Wales, Angel Co-Investment Fund, Tensor Ventures, Wren Capital, Ed Parkinson, Cambridge Angels and SyndicateRoom.

Antiverse will use the funding to accelerate the development of its AI antibody drug platform, which is used to predict antibody-antigen binding to identify drug candidates.

The company added that this technology will help to enable the development of drugs for ‘difficult’ targets for cancer, heart and lung diseases.

“Our investors recognise the potential of our AI-powered antibody drug discovery platform to provide a breakthrough in the industry. With our technology, it will be possible to develop drugs for difficult targets and ultimately reduce drug discovery timescales from years to weeks,” said Murat Tunaboylu, chief executive officer of Antiverse.

“In addition to platform development, the funding will enable us to invest in facilities and recruitment; we are grateful to our investors and Innovate UK for their continued support,” he added.