AI Proteins has $18.2 million in seed capital

Chris Bahl is a self-proclaimed protein geek. He’s spent the better part of 10 years studying the intricate structures of proteins — complex molecular machines responsible for nearly all facets of life, from metabolism to movement. His goal was to create completely synthetic proteins using computer programs, and to open up a new avenue for making medicines. His work, which relies heavily on recent advances in artificial intelligence and synthetic biology, had taken him from one prestigious protein lab in Seattle to another one in Boston. But last fall, after a stream of queries from drug companies hoping to partner with him, Bahl decided to cancel his six research grants, close shop at his four-year-old academic lab, and launch a biotech startup to focus on making protein therapies full time. After a year of working in stealth mode, Bahl’s startup, AI Proteins, emerged on Thursday with $18.2 million in seed funding led by venture capital firms Cobro Ventures and Lightchain Capital. The money will help the startup, where Bahl is president and chief scientific officer, refine its protein creation technology and further progress on a dozen experimental therapies it’s already developing for immune diseases and cancer. Lightchain, a St. Louis firm that invests in life science and software companies, was shocked by how quickly the startup could design and optimize the potential drugs. The startup is the latest entrant to a large and growing field of biotech firms making bold and often untested claims about how artificial intelligence and machine learning will help them make better drugs more quickly and at lower cost. “There’s no question that this space is incredibly overhyped,” said Peter Sorger, a professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School. “Investors want to imagine that drug discovery is going to be easy now, and that will never be true.” But if artificial intelligence can help make drugs even 10 percent better or faster, “that is really meaningful,” he added. — RYAN CROSS