Bill and Melinda Gates Trust Invests $85 Million in Schrodinger

NEW YORK – Schrödinger, a privately held company working on new drug discovery through advanced molecular simulations, has closed an $85 million financing to support continued growth and innovation of its computational platform and expansion of its drug discovery pipeline.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund co-led the round, joined by leading life science and tech investors Deerfield Management, Baron, Qiming Venture Partners, and GV (formerly Google Ventures).

“Schrödinger has demonstrated that precise molecular design can significantly accelerate drug discovery and lead to unexpected solutions that stand to benefit patients. We’re pleased to support this exciting stage in Schrödinger’s growth,” said Bill Gates, who has led three previous investments in Schrödinger since 2010.

The new investment will support Schrödinger’s ongoing research and development to extend the capabilities of its widely adopted computational platform for drug discovery and materials research. The company also plans to add scientists and developers and expand its drug discovery team to work on a growing pipeline of assets. Schrödinger’s pipeline spans both partnered and proprietary programs for a range of indications, including several compounds in clinical development.

“We continue to be impressed by Schrödinger’s ability to drive in an innovative way the development of new medicines,” said Dr. Ge Li, Chairman of WuXi Group and CEO of WuXi AppTec. “We look forward to the accelerated progress this investment will bring for patients who are counting on our industry to deliver medicines and treatments for critical, unmet medical needs.”

“The investment will allow us to continue to advance our technology platform to help our users accelerate their work in life sciences and materials design. We are also excited to expand our drug discovery efforts, leveraging our platform to grow our pipeline and discover new medicines more efficiently,” said Ramy Farid, Ph.D., Schrödinger’s CEO. “Our growth will help us realize our mission to improve human health and quality of life.”