Biossil reaches unicorn status via OpenAI-led funding
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The Toronto-based biotech startup raised $153 million USD to scale its AI-driven approach to resurrecting failed drug projects.
Toronto-based biotech firm Biossil has achieved unicorn status following a $153 million USD ($216 million CAD) financing round, as BetaKit reported. The funding, which values the company at $1 billion USD, was led by the OpenAI Startup Fund.
Biossil specializes in acquiring failed drug projects and using an AI platform to identify molecules that may still be viable candidates despite not completing original clinical trials. By licensing or buying these molecules, the company avoids starting the development process from scratch. Biossil CEO and co-founder Anthony Mouchantaf told BetaKit that the all-equity investment will be used to acquire more drug candidates and expand the company's clinical development capacity.
Other investors in the round include Founders Fund, Quiet Capital, Modern Capital, Golden Ventures, Panache Ventures, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, and Duke University’s endowment fund. Biossil is currently conducting research trials targeting glioblastoma, breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and sickle cell disease.
Mouchantaf noted on LinkedIn that AI-driven biomedical insights must be translated into the physical world through infrastructure that integrates AI and medicine from discovery to the clinic, stating that Biossil is building this infrastructure across Canada and the United States.
The move comes as other AI players enter the healthcare space; BetaKit notes that Anthropic operates a biolab in California, and the Canadian developer Cohere acquired Reliant AI in May to speed up its healthcare sector entry. Biossil previously exited stealth in April after raising $70 million USD.