Despite the fragile state of the biotech market – with public companies facing bankruptcy and private companies delaying IPOs – AI-driven drug discovery company Insilico Medicine announced it just raised additional funds in its Series D round, injecting another $35 million for a total $95 million in aggregate. The second portion of the raise was led by Prosperity7, the venture arm of Aramco, the Saudi oil company which became the world's most valuable publicly traded company following its IPO in 2019, with a market valuation of $1.7 trillion.

Speed and agility are crucial to stay ahead of the volatile market and Insilico Medicine is strategically aligning the Company in regions where there is capital, tech expertise, and growth potential, including Montreal, Hong Kong, and soon, Abu Dhabi. The company has a global presence that encompasses 6 countries and regions and continues to expand – as well as a dual-CEO structure that allows it to focus on developing the precision of its Pharma.AI drug development platform and its more traditional drug research and development simultaneously.

Founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, an expert in applying generative adversarial networks to biology and chemistry, leads the Company's AI development, while co-CEO and CSO Feng Ren, PhD, leads its drug development, moving the company's internal assets forward to IND-enabling clinical trials.

With a lead fibrosis candidate in Phase 1 clinical trials in New Zealand and China and some 30 programs total in indications including oncology, inflammation and central nervous system disorders, the company is expanding rapidly. Major developments on the horizon include a data-generating, fully automated, AI-run robotics lab scheduled to launch this fall, and a new clinical trial prediction tool, InClinico, that was launched at the recent BIO International Conference in San Diego.

The latest funding infusion will allow the company to accelerate its internal programs and utilize its proven end-to-end AI platform to uncover more novel therapeutics for hard-to-treat diseases. Just recently, it announced promising preclinical candidates for both COVID-19 and related variants and for ALS disease.

Insilico Medicine plans to grow its presence in Saudi Arabia, building on the recent investment from Prosperity7. Under a strategic plan known as Vision 2030, the government of Saudi Arabia is focused on developing its technology sector, including through major investment and partnerships in data and AI, with $20 billion in funding for AI alone. Prosperity7 is helping to advance these goals through its strategic investments in disruptive, next-generation technologies.

At last year's GITEX trade show in Dubai, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority showcased a number of new tech developments, including a secure video conferencing system used by government officials, an app to counter COVID-19, and an international AI art competition.

"Data and AI are at the heart of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030," Majid AlShehry, a spokesperson for the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, told C4ISRNET. "By developing our own AI strategy and policies, we have developed the skills and resources that we wish to share with other nations to ensure that all countries are equally prepared to harness the value of AI,"

At the upcoming GITEX event in Dubai in Oct. 2022, Petrina Kamya, PhD, Head of AI Platforms at Insilico Medicine, will present a keynote at the invitation of the global organization Women in AI.

Insilico Medicine founder and CEO Zhavoronkov discussed Saudi Arabia's efforts to become a serious technology powerhouse in his recent Forbes column, noting that on a recent trip he saw evidence of a serious transformation underway in the country, from the Absher app that allows residents to do everything from buying property to renewing licenses to highly efficient architecture.

When Saudi oil company Aramco went public in 2019, it became the most valuable company in the world, with a market value of 1.9 trillion. Its value was higher than Apple and Facebook combined, and twice the size of Amazon and Alphabet.

Aramco launched Prosperity7, a $1 billion diversified growth fund, in February 2022 in order to support disruptive technologies backed by expertise and scalability. The fund was named for Dammam Well-7, also known as the "Prosperity Well," the first commercial oil well in Saudi Arabia.

Prosperity7 is backing tech companies with serious growth potential and providing them with the benefits of Aramco's vast global network.

Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said: "Prosperity7 will connect the dots through big ideas, top talents and disruptive technologies from around the world as we look beyond the energy value chain to areas like healthcare, education and blockchain, for viable solutions to the world's most pressing challenges."

Zhavoronkov noted that Prosperity7's recent investment would also open doors for a collaboration that would allow Aramco to explore how Insilico's AI – trained on target and drug discovery – might also be adapted for clean energy purposes.