Enveda Biosciences announced Thursday it has raised $150 million in Series D financing, doubling its venture capital haul this year to advance its artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery platform. The round was led by Premji Invest, the family office of Indian billionaire Azim Premji, with participation from technology and biotechnology investors including Kinnevik, Dimension, and Lux Capital.
The Boulder-based company, founded in 2019, has simultaneously announced the initiation of Phase 1b testing for its lead drug candidate ENV-294 in atopic dermatitis, marking a significant clinical milestone for the AI-driven drug discovery firm.
Novel AI Platform Mines Nature's Chemistry
Enveda's core technology platform leverages artificial intelligence to mine large datasets and identify promising therapeutic molecules that already exist in nature. "Nature has been running the most sophisticated R&D program on Earth for billions of years, yet nearly all of its chemistry remains unexplored," said Viswa Colluru, Enveda's CEO.
The company's approach represents a departure from traditional drug discovery methods, focusing on what Daniel Wee, Enveda's chief execution officer, describes as "leveraging what life has already created and building on top of that" to achieve better success rates in drug development.
Lead Program Shows Promise in Early Testing
ENV-294, Enveda's flagship program, is described by the company as "a completely new chemical class" that demonstrated "kinase inhibitor-like and steroid-like" behavior in preclinical studies. The small molecule also showed "a safety profile similar to biologics in toxicology studies," according to company data.
Early clinical data released in May indicated that ENV-294 was well tolerated in trial participants, with no serious adverse events reported during initial testing phases.
Expanding Pipeline Targets Multiple Disease Areas
Beyond its lead atopic dermatitis program, Enveda has built a diverse pipeline targeting what Wee characterizes as "very large markets, large indications that affect broader society." The company plans to tackle diseases driven by multiple mechanisms, with several investigational new drug applications expected over the next year.
The pipeline includes an NLRP3/TL1A+ pathway inhibitor for inflammatory bowel disease, another TL1A+ inhibitor for various inflammatory and fibrotic conditions, and a "hormone mimetic" for obesity treatment. The company has disclosed twelve additional programs in development.
Strategic Funding and Leadership Expansion
This latest funding round builds on Enveda's $130 million Series C financing raised last year, which was led by Kinnevik and FPV. Sanofi joined the investor group in February, contributing to the company's total capital raise of $150 million this year.
The company has also announced that former Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten will join Enveda's board of directors, bringing significant pharmaceutical industry expertise to guide the company's clinical development strategy.
"In startups, at the growth stage, you never let up off the gas," Wee said, emphasizing the company's commitment to advancing multiple programs into clinical testing.
AI Drug Discovery Landscape
Enveda's progress comes as the broader AI-driven drug discovery sector faces scrutiny over its ability to deliver on early promises. While supporters have touted artificial intelligence as a means to reduce the time and cost associated with finding new therapeutic molecules, few AI-designed drugs have entered clinical testing, and even fewer have generated meaningful clinical data. Those that have reached clinical stages have shown mixed results, making Enveda's advancement to Phase 1b testing a notable achievement in the space.
