A projected timeline for treatment and prevention of the novel coronavirus. Although we are living ... [ ] through uncertain times, we are also witnessing one of the greatest moments in science history. Scientists are breaking speed records in their race to develop treatments for the new coronavirus. Some are panning through old molecules hoping to find effective drugs. Others are applying the latest breakthroughs in synthetic biology to engineer sophisticated treatments and vaccines.

Variational AI Inc.'s bread and butter rests in novel drug discovery, specifically using artificial intelligence (AI) to compress the years-long preclinical process to perhaps a single year. But in the midst of a pandemic, even a year might be too long to find a treatment for COVID-19, according to CEO Handol Kim. "Even if we're able to collapse the front end, you still have five or six years of clinical trials and who knows if we need a drug in five or six years for COVID-19?" he said. "We thought, 'Well, the fastest way to do this is repurposing existing drugs.'" The pitch caught the interest of the Digital Technology Supercluster, which last month committed to spending $60 million of its $153 million budget to develop partnerships across its networks to address issues brought on by the pandemic.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AbCellera announced today that it has closed its Series A financing led by DCVC Bio, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund focused on deep technology ventures that lie at the nexus of artificial intelligence and biotechnology. AbCellera will use the USD $10 million financing to accelerate the growth of their therapeutic antibody discovery business, including investments to build capacity and integration of advanced technological capabilities spanning computation, protein engineering, and immune repertoire profiling. "With this financing, we will double-down on our partnership business that has enjoyed profitable, triple-digit growth over the past 3 years. In DCVC Bio, we have found the ideal funding partner to help us accelerate the success of our full-stack antibody discovery engine, one that integrates artificial intelligence with industry-leading microfluidic screening technology," said Carl Hansen, CEO of AbCellera. AbCellera's high-throughput single B cell screening platform and repertoire sequencing technologies enable discovery of large multidimensional data sets of valuable antibody sequences.