Israeli AI company CytoReason has raised $80 million in a new funding round, attracting investments from NVIDIA, Pfizer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and venture capital firm OurCrowd. The Tel Aviv-based startup uses machine learning to build computational disease models, aiming to speed up drug discovery and development.
CytoReason's technology acts like a GPS for the immune system, combining data from various sources to predict how drugs will affect patients. This approach helps pharmaceutical companies cut costs, shorten trial phases, and boost the chances of drug approval.
David Harel, CytoReason's co-founder and CEO, emphasized the shift in the industry's thinking: "The world understands that data alone is not enough. The future of data-driven insights is in data modeling."
The funding round marks a vote of confidence from major players in tech and pharma. NVIDIA's involvement has already yielded results, with Kimberly Powell, VP of Healthcare at NVIDIA, noting that CytoReason's platforms now run over 10 times faster on their latest AI hardware.
Pfizer, which previously invested $20 million in CytoReason, continues to see value in the partnership. Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's Chief Scientific Officer, highlighted AI's potential to transform healthcare: "The rapid expansion of new technologies like artificial intelligence holds tremendous potential to revolutionize what's possible in human health."
CytoReason plans to use the new funds to expand its disease modeling capabilities, grow its data assets, and open a U.S. office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This move will put the company closer to America's biotech hub, potentially opening doors to new partnerships.
The startup's impact is already significant, with six of the world's top ten pharmaceutical companies using its technology. CytoReason's models help researchers make data-driven decisions in areas like immunology, inflammation, and cancer treatment.