Israeli AI tech startup CytoReason raises $80M led by Nvidia and Pfizer to grow its AI drug discovery platform

CytoReason, an Israeli tech startup that uses AI to develop disease models, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $80 million in a private funding round to expand its AI drug discovery platform. The round was led by industry giants Nvidia and Pfizer, with additional participation from Thermo Fisher and venture capital firm OurCrowd.

The fresh influx of capital is set to fuel CytoReason’s ambitious plans to broaden the scope of its AI-driven disease models into new therapeutic areas and enhance its proprietary molecular and clinical data repository. Additionally, the startup has its sights set on opening a new office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, later this year.

This latest funding milestone arrives two years after Pfizer deepened its ties with CytoReason through a substantial $20 million investment, part of a broader deal that could total $110 million by 2027. This strategic partnership allows Pfizer to leverage CytoReason’s cutting-edge AI technology to bolster its drug development efforts, Reuters reported.

Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, emphasized the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, stating, “The rapid expansion of new technologies, like artificial intelligence, holds tremendous potential to help transform what is possible in human health.”

He continued, “Our collaboration with CytoReason leverages its cutting-edge immunology multiomics platform to augment Pfizer’s own R&D capabilities and generate invaluable insights into new drug development pathways for patients.”

CytoReason’s AI platform is already utilized by six of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies, enabling them to make data-driven decisions across various therapeutic areas such as immunology, inflammation, immuno-oncology, and metabolism.

Since its founding in 2016, CytoReason has tackled the challenge of processing the exponential growth of human molecular data, which far outpaces our linear analytic capabilities. The company’s computational disease models synthesize vast amounts of data, providing insights into gene activity, cellular interactions, and disease pathways.

By simulating diseases at the cellular level, CytoReason’s technology reduces the reliance on animal trials and enhances the precision and innovation of human trials. This approach promises a more targeted and effective path for drug development, ultimately benefiting patients worldwide.

CytoReason Team (Credit: CytoReason)