AI-Powered Drug Discovery Firm Manas AI Debuts with $24.6 Million in Seed Funding
Manas AI Inc., a new startup leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery, has officially launched with an initial funding round of $24.6 million. The investment was spearheaded by General Catalyst, with additional contributions from Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of the company and prominent figure in the tech industry. Greylock Partners, where Hoffman previously served as a general partner until 2023, also participated in the funding round.
The startup was co-founded by Reid Hoffman, known as the co-founder of LinkedIn, and Siddhartha Mukherjee, a renowned cancer researcher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The duo aims to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by using AI to develop new medicines more efficiently than traditional methods. Manas AI will initially focus on cancer treatments but intends to expand its scope to address autoimmune diseases and rare medical conditions in the future.
At the heart of drug development lies the interaction between small molecules—organic compounds about one nanometer in size—and disease-causing proteins. These molecules must bind to the targeted protein to neutralize its harmful effects. The process of discovering effective binding is both complex and resource-intensive, relying on a simulation technique known as "docking." Docking involves predicting how a molecule can attach to a protein and identifying the optimal orientation for this interaction to occur.
However, the challenge lies in the sheer number of theoretical ways a molecule can bind to a protein. Most of these theoretical interactions fail in practice. Furthermore, both proteins and molecules are flexible structures that can change configurations during the binding process, adding another layer of complexity to the simulation. Manas AI seeks to address these hurdles by developing AI models capable of accelerating docking simulations by up to 100 times.
To support this effort, the company is launching an initiative called Project Cosmos. This program aims to uncover the fundamental principles governing molecule-protein binding and use these insights to streamline drug development. By mapping out these binding rules, the company hopes to make the drug discovery process more predictable and efficient.
Manas AI has partnered with Microsoft Corp. to utilize the technology giant’s Azure cloud platform for its AI research. The startup envisions building a "full-stack therapeutic development pipeline" that goes beyond identifying drug candidates. This pipeline will integrate all stages of drug development, including clinical trials, to create a seamless end-to-end process.
Commenting on the company’s vision, Siddhartha Mukherjee stated, "Through the power of AI and our world-class team, we believe we can drastically reduce the time and cost it takes to bring game-changing new treatments to patients."
The seed funding will be allocated toward further development of Manas AI’s AI models, the identification of potential drug candidates, and the execution of clinical trials. By combining cutting-edge technology with medical expertise, the company seeks to transform the landscape of pharmaceutical innovation.
