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French biotech company Whitelab Genomics It has raised $10 million in funding for an AI platform designed to discover and develop genomic therapies.
In the year Founded in 2019 from Paris, recent Y Combinator (YC) graduate Whitelab Genomics provides gene and cell therapy companies with predictive software simulations to accelerate the design of gene and cell therapies. Gene therapy is an emerging treatment that involves correcting genetic disorders by replacing missing or damaged genes in cells, while cell therapy involves changing a single cell or group of cells to produce an effect in the body.
Cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s stem from defects in individual DNA, and research into gene and cell therapies may eventually replace the need for drugs or surgery to treat these diseases at their source.
However, such treatments are costly to develop with no guarantee that they will work. According to David Del Burgo, CEO and founder of WhiteLab Genomics, current methods for developing new gene and cell therapies involve a trial-and-error approach. The next step, however, if unsuccessful, is to return to one with a different hypothesis. And this is where WhiteLab Genomics kicks in, with a computational approach that uses machine learning and deep learning techniques to run multiple scientific hypotheses simultaneously, looking at different genetic variants with the goal of “predicting the best molecular design for therapy.” .
“Gene and cell therapies still suffer from poor efficacy, immunosuppressive secondary effects and very high development costs,” del Burgo explained to TechCrunch. We provide clients with complete predictive models that combine genetics and computational biology to design and select top candidates that can be tested in the laboratory.
WhiteLab Genomics Founders: David Del Borrogo, CEO, and Julien Coutine, Chief Scientific Officer Image credits: WhiteLab Genomics
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As with all AI models, Whitelab Genomics uses a myriad of data sets to train its algorithms, including genome, RNA, oncology and protein repositories, in addition to a “complete dataset” such as public scientific and clinical research data.
“We work with specialized institutions to enrich the models with additional anonymized data,” Del Burgo added. These include public databases, proprietary data and our partners’ datasets. It predicts biological properties from new genetic sequences to construct new therapeutic vectors and create new therapeutic constructs.
In terms of the types of therapies Whitelab Genomics is helping to develop, he said the company is currently working on projects including DNA-based stem cell therapies for metabolic conditions such as lysosomal diseases and blood diseases such as sickle cell disease. Cell disease and immune-gene therapies to treat cancer.
Elsewhere, several companies are using AI to help drug discovery, such as BenevolentAI, which has raised large-scale investments from the VC world, while TechCrunch startup Battleground winner Cellino recently raised $80 million to develop cell therapies using AI. WhiteLab Genomics is similar, but working with both genes. And Cell therapy companies.
It is worth noting that Whitelab Genomics represents a growing list of French startups to successfully infiltrate the YC ranks. Of the 40 European companies in the Whitelab Genomics Winter ’22 cohort, 5 are French, a figure that rose to 8 from 34 for Winter ’22 – the second highest number from all of Europe.
$10 million in bankroll from French investor Omnis Capital and biopharmaceutical heavyweight Debiopharm Whitelab Genomics has received generous funding to build its platform and double its partnerships with the scientific world, which has so far included notable collaborations. France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Geneton Laboratories, among other pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
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