Two of the largest drugmakers in the country are investing in a startup applying artificial intelligence in pathology. Boston-based PathAI said that it had closed its $75 million Series B financing round with funding from New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, part of Kenilworth, New Jersey-based Merck & Co. PathAI said it would use the money to bolster its clinical development capabilities. PathAI had announced its $60 million Series B financing its April, led by venture capital firms General Atlantic and General Catalyst, with participation from LabCorp, which the company said the latest investment follows and extends.

Pepticom's unique artificial intelligence (AI) technology streamlines and significantly accelerates the ability of researchers to discover advanced peptide-based drug candidates. Peptides are used in various therapies, and are recognized for being highly selective and efficacious as well as relatively safe. The pharma industry has recently shown an increased interest in peptide research and development, leading to a resurgence of peptide drug candidates. The process of discovering new peptides with lifesaving potential, however, is still costly and time consuming. Pepticom's AI technology enables the discovery of the most advanced peptide-based drug candidates by searching an enormous set of possible solutions, vastly reducing the risk of failure during development.

Varian said it is investing in privately held Oncora Medical and will partner with the software company to develop machine learning-guided decision support tools. The aim is to help doctors create personalized treatment plans for cancer patients. Philadelphia-based Oncora has developed an analytics platform in collaboration with MD Anderson oncologists that collects data on cancer patients, their treatments and clinical outcomes. The information is then used to model outcomes for treatments devised for new patients. Varian and Oncora plan to apply Oncora's predictive models to help plan treatments that minimize the risk of toxicity to patients and improve the chances for a cure, Varian said.