A new powerhouse in AI-driven drug discovery has emerged from the aftermath of Meta's layoffs, as former Meta AI researchers launch EvolutionaryScale with an impressive $142 million in seed financing. The startup, founded by Alex Rives and colleagues, brings cutting-edge large language model technology to the challenging field of protein drug development.
The substantial funding round was led by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, tech entrepreneur Daniel Gross, and Lux Capital, with strategic investments from NVIDIA's venture capital division and Amazon, signaling strong confidence in the company's innovative approach.
Revolutionary Protein Engineering Platform
At the heart of EvolutionaryScale's technology is ESM3, a sophisticated platform trained on nearly 4 billion proteins. The system represents a significant advancement in protein engineering, offering the first generative model that simultaneously analyzes protein sequence, structure, and function.
The platform's capabilities were demonstrated through the creation of esmGFP, a novel fluorescent protein that shares only 58% sequence similarity with its closest natural counterpart. This achievement effectively compressed what would naturally take 500 million years of evolution into a rapid computational process.
"ESM3 takes a step towards a future where AI is a tool to engineer biology from first principles in the same way we engineer structures, machines, and microchips, and write computer programmes," the company stated, highlighting the transformative potential of their technology.
Strategic Partnerships and Accessibility
Tom Sercu, Vice President of Engineering at EvolutionaryScale, expressed confidence in the platform's capabilities: "In our internal testing we've been impressed by the ability of ESM3 to creatively respond to a variety of complex prompts. We expect ESM3 will help scientists accelerate their work and open up new possibilities."
The company has established a strategic partnership with NVIDIA, enabling pharmaceutical companies to develop customized models using their proprietary data. Additionally, EvolutionaryScale will make their technology accessible to academic researchers through NVIDIA's BioNeMo generative AI platform, fostering innovation across the scientific community.
Competitive Landscape in AI Drug Discovery
EvolutionaryScale's launch comes at a pivotal moment in AI-driven drug discovery, with competitors like Google DeepMind's AlphaFold already making significant strides. AlphaFold's latest iteration has expanded beyond protein structure prediction to include DNA, RNA, and antibody analysis, highlighting the rapidly evolving nature of this field.
The emergence of EvolutionaryScale, with its unique approach to protein engineering and strong financial backing, positions the company to potentially accelerate the development of novel therapeutics and reshape the landscape of drug discovery.
