The Pulse
WhiteLab Genomics Raises $26 Million to Advance AI-Designed Medicines
WhiteLab Genomics closed a $26 million Series B led by AVP to fund in vivo testing of AI-designed delivery systems and genetic payloads. The Paris-based company says its AAV candidates crossed the blood-brain barrier in studies with the Par
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
“AI can help us design better genomic medicines, but what ultimately matters is whether those designs work in living systems.”
David Del Bourgo, co-founder and CEO of WhiteLab Genomics
WhiteLab Genomics closed a $26 million Series B on October 6, saying it will use the money to test AI-designed components of genomic medicines in living systems and expand its commercial operations internationally. AVP led the round. New investors Yaday Health and Blast Club joined existing investors Omnes Capital and Debiopharm Innovation Fund.
The Paris-based company aims to develop a portfolio of experimentally validated “bio-assets”—delivery systems and genetic payloads that it can advance itself or with biopharma partners. WhiteLab says the funding will support programs across viral and non-viral delivery technologies, as well as programmable genetic payloads. It plans to expand across North America, Europe and Asia.
WhiteLab’s AAV candidates target the blood-brain barrier
WhiteLab’s announcement points to work with the Paris Brain Institute as an example of its approach. Using its ALFRED platform, the company designed adeno-associated viruses, or AAVs, which are used to deliver genetic material into cells. WhiteLab says its candidates crossed the blood-brain barrier in in vivo studies, showed a strong brain-to-liver targeting ratio and had no detectable liver signal.
The company did not give sample sizes, numerical targeting ratios or other study details in the announcement. Its description therefore offers an early account of the results, rather than enough information to assess how the candidates compare with existing vectors or how the findings might translate to people. WhiteLab says the AAVs also have novel sequences and properties intended to support manufacturing and scale-up.
Getting genetic instructions to the intended cells is a major hurdle for genomic medicines. The blood-brain barrier restricts many substances from entering the brain, complicating efforts to develop treatments for neurological conditions. WhiteLab named Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, ALS, lysosomal storage diseases and glioblastoma as possible areas where more targeted delivery could matter; it did not announce a medicine or clinical trial for any of them.
ALFRED expands beyond viral delivery
ALFRED stands for AI-Led Framework for Rational Exploration in Drug Design. WhiteLab says the platform designs and optimizes delivery systems, then uses laboratory and in vivo testing to identify candidates for further development. The company’s stated goal is to reduce the time, cost and trial-and-error involved in developing genomic medicines, though the financing announcement gives no measured estimate of those savings.
The company is extending its work beyond AAVs to non-viral approaches such as lipid nanoparticles. It is also developing programmable genetic payloads, including synthetic promoters intended to control where and when a therapeutic gene is expressed. Combining delivery vehicles with payload design would let WhiteLab work on multiple components of a medicine, rather than treating them as separate problems.
New investors join WhiteLab’s board
The financing brings two investor representatives onto WhiteLab’s board: François Robinet, AVP’s managing partner, and Dr. Daniel Teper, managing partner of Yaday Health. Teper is also founder and CEO of NAYA Therapeutics, according to the company. WhiteLab says it will strengthen its Boston operations, grow its presence on the U.S. West Coast and pursue opportunities in Japan and South Korea.
WhiteLab was founded in 2019 and operates from Paris, Boston and Montreal. It says it works with industrial and academic partners including Sanofi, Cytiva, the University of Massachusetts, the Vision Institute in Paris and the Paris Brain Institute. The company’s immediate test is whether its computational designs can produce delivery systems and payloads that hold up in experiments—and become assets other drug developers will take forward.