Belfast-based biotech startup Amply Discovery has secured $1.75 million (approximately £1.3 million) in seed funding to advance its artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform. The investment round was led by London-based AI specialist Twin Path Ventures, with participation from US-based Venture Science, Co-fund NI, the British Business Bank, and QUBIS Ltd.
Founded in 2021 as a spin-out from Queen's University Belfast, Amply leverages a decade of scientific research to tackle some of healthcare's most pressing challenges, including aggressive cancers and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Innovative Technology Platform
Amply has developed a proprietary drug discovery engine that combines artificial intelligence, next-generation sequencing, and synthetic biology to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics. The platform analyzes biological molecules, identifies potential treatment targets, and bio-prints real molecules that can be rapidly tested and refined in laboratory settings.
Dr. Ben Thomas, CEO and co-founder of Amply, explained the company's origins: "Ten years ago, I began combining financial modelling expertise with computational biology to create a drug discovery platform. Evolution has spent billions of years perfecting natural defense mechanisms, and now we're using AI to unlock this wisdom."
For Thomas, the mission is deeply personal. "This isn't just professional for me; my father died from a drug-resistant infection our healthcare system couldn't treat," he shared. "At Queen's, I built Amply to tackle deadly diseases differently, creating technology that will save lives when current treatments fail."
Targeting Critical Unmet Medical Needs
Amply's current research focuses on two critical areas with significant unmet medical needs:
Aggressive Cancer Therapies
The company is developing novel gene-silencing therapies for aggressive cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer and acute myeloid leukemia. These cancer types often have poor survival rates despite advances in treatment, largely due to their genetic complexity and resistance to conventional therapies.
Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions
As drug-resistant pathogens increasingly render current antibiotics ineffective, Amply is working on nebulized treatments for chronic and drug-resistant lung infections. These treatments utilize antimicrobial peptides that can be inhaled directly into the lungs, potentially offering new options for patients with resistant infections.
Addressing Genetic Diversity in Treatment
A key differentiator in Amply's approach is its focus on genetic diversity. The company recognizes that the "one-size-fits-all" approach to treatment fails to account for genetic variations among patients, leading to suboptimal outcomes for many.
"We're deploying our platform against complex cancers and multi-drug resistant pathogens that threaten our current antibiotic arsenal," said Dermot Tierney, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Amply. "This investment is a vote of confidence in Amply, especially given the challenging fundraising environment for seed-stage biotechs. It enables us to execute our plan and target therapeutic areas with significant unmet needs."
Global Health and Economic Impact
The work Amply is undertaking addresses two of healthcare's most urgent challenges. Antimicrobial resistance directly causes more than 1.27 million deaths globally each year and contributes to nearly 5 million more. By 2050, the economic burden of these treatment gaps could exceed trillions in healthcare costs and GDP losses globally.
Similarly, aggressive cancers like triple-negative breast cancer continue to have poor survival rates despite advances in treatment. Amply's platform aims to find effective treatments where current options are inadequate.
Funding to Accelerate Development
The $1.75 million seed funding will be used to accelerate the development of Amply's discovery programs through the preclinical stage. The company, founded by computational biology scientist Dr. Ben Thomas, Dermot Tierney, and Professor Chris Creevey, aims to advance its pipeline of novel therapeutics toward clinical development.
This investment represents a significant milestone for the Belfast biotech ecosystem and highlights the growing importance of AI-driven approaches in addressing complex medical challenges.
