SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#ai–First paragraph, second sentence of release should read: Recently raising a $5.2M USD series seed co-led by OCA Ventures and Serra Ventures with participation from Susa Ventures, Intel Capital, Stage Venture Partners, Village Global, Twin, and Loup Ventures, the company will now be able to support increasingly larger communities in academia and pharma to computationally model and support better translative research in drug development (instead of: Recently raising $5.2M USD with Silicon Valley lead investors such as Susa Ventures, Intel Capital and OCA (with further financing from Village Global, Serra, Stage Venture Partners, Twin, and Loup Ventures)…)
The corrected release reads:
VERISIM LIFE RAISES $5.2M ROUND OF FUNDING: BUILDING DIGITAL ANIMAL AND HUMAN SIMULATIONS TO AVOID UNNECESSARY DRUG TESTING IN ANIMALS
Dr. Jo Varshney, a multi-disciplinary and celebrated leader in veterinary and human health development, along with a team of world class scientists and engineers in machine learning and in silico simulation bring clarity to drug development through better science. Recently raising a $5.2M USD series seed co-led by OCA Ventures and Serra Ventures with participation from Susa Ventures, Intel Capital, Stage Venture Partners, Village Global, Twin, and Loup Ventures, the company will now be able to support increasingly larger communities in academia and pharma to computationally model and support better translative research in drug development.
“Prior to VeriSIM Life, there was a fundamental disconnect in how medicine gets to treating the patients who need it. At the pre-clinical stage, animal testing is relied upon. This is ineffective and unsound for a few reasons:
One, it takes far too long, is expensive and wastes R&D resources.
Two, it relies on trial and error drug testing that abuses animals.
Three, the use of animals as a way of understanding human physiology results in further inefficiency, error (92%), and is a bit like comparing apples to oranges.
We, instead, use world-class expertise in machine learning and engineering to produce models that serve as ‘digital’ animals and — in the future — humans.”
— Dr. Jo Varshney, DVM/PhD, Founder and CEO, VSL
VSL is now looking to source additional opportunities with more partnering companies in the biotech and pharma space, inclusive of medical development impacting both humans and animals. With prior successful launches into partnerships and co-development with big companies, academia and CROs, the company is now positioned to not only continue their proof of concept but fully implement solutions for companies looking to move from bench to bedside.
With this new funding, VSL will be able to optimize its models through expanded academic partnerships, grow a team to include world-class talent in the engineering and operations space, and engage with greater agency when working with larger pharma institutions.
As the team grows, VSL will maintain a cross-collaborative culture reliant upon world-class subject matter expertise and an approach to collaboration that seeks to include as many diverse experiences as possible. With a ‘ground-up’ approach to celebrating inclusion, diverse expert opinions, belonging, and equality, it is possible to gain tremendous insights from a team committed to communicating and engaging from highly unique and specialized points of view and break the silos that currently exist across different disciplines.
Saving millions of dollars and years of effort, while bringing greater accuracy and efficiency to drug development, leaders such as Eric Stefanich (Director of Preclinical research) has the following to say about VeriSIM’s partnership with Genentech:
“The cost and time of developing new medications have been growing for decades. Modeling and simulation approaches have potential to reduce the time and cost and restore sustainability to drug development. VeriSIM Life is on the leading edge of this next phase of drug development using AI and machine learning to more efficiently and effectively predict pharmacology of potential new drug candidates through pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling and simulation. VeriSIM Life has the potential to help design better drugs, predict disease outcome, and select patients who would benefit from therapies; making the dream of personalized medicine a reality.”