Panorama Medicine raises $3.7 million to accelerate drug discovery using genomics and artificial intelligence

Panorama Medicine (Panorama), a genomics and computing powered drug discovery company focusing on RNA therapeutics, has raised a $3.7 million seed round to expand its scientific team, build a robust screening and big data discovery platform, and continue drug development efforts. The round was by WI Harper Group and a number of other leading venture capital firms.

Founded last year by leading scientists in RNA genomics and computational biology, CEO and co-founder, Mingfu Zhu, and co-founder Dr. Yi Xing, Panorama Medicine is a VC-backed startup founded by a multidisciplinary team of world-renowned computational and experimental RNA biologists. Panorama has leveraged the founding team’s expertise to create a drug discovery platform that integrates genomics, big data, and computing to develop therapeutic interventions for RNA defects in disease. The Panorama platform is end-to-end, encompassing data production and analysis through validation of discoveries.

Dr. Yi Xing is Professor and Director of the Center for Computational and Genomic Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He has developed some of the most fundamental algorithms and widely-used computational tools for interpreting large-scale RNA data. Dr. Douglas Black, Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the University of California Los Angeles, is a renowned RNA biologist who has made pioneering discoveries about RNA-level gene regulation in health and disease.

Abnormal RNA processing and regulation cause a wide range of human diseases. RNA therapeutics, which involves the modulation of RNA-level processes with therapeutic agents, is a rapidly developing frontier for drug discovery and development, as evidenced by recent breakthroughs in treating disorders arising from RNA defects. RNA therapeutics greatly expands the catalog of druggable targets, providing new avenues of treatment for previously untreatable diseases.

“Many leading pharmas have dedicated extensive resources in genomics and computing to speed up drug discovery,” said Mingfu Zhu, another co-founder and the CEO of Panorama. “Panorama’s approach is unique in that it leverages the expertise of our team in RNA genomics and computational biology. We are developing a screening platform and associated core technologies to find drugs that can treat diseases caused by errors during RNA processing.” Dr. Zhu had previously assumed executive roles at leading biotech companies in the US and China, and was an Assistant Professor at Duke University Medical Center.

“WI Harper Group invests in cutting-edge technologies and appreciates the power of big data and artificial intelligence in healthcare applications,” added WI Harper Group Managing Director and Panorama board member Jimmy Lu. “Panorama is uniquely positioned to develop an AI-based drug discovery platform focusing on RNA therapeutics, and we are very proud to lead the initial financing round to support the company’s vision to find effective treatments for rare and common diseases.”