Envisagenics Raises Seed Round

NEW YORK — Envisagenics, an AI-driven revenue generating biotechnology company focused on discovery and development of novel RNA splicing therapeutics, has raised a Series B fundraising round with participation from existing investors Third Kind Venture Capital, Empire State Development and Red Cell Partners, and new strategic investor Bristol Myers Squibb. Bristol Myers Squibb previously entered into an oncology research collaboration with Envisagenics in 2022. The amount of funding was not disclosed.

Proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to further develop Envisagenics’ pipeline of novel preclinical oncology assets with the company’s cloud-based AI drug discovery platform, SpliceCore, and to scale its commercial offerings. SpliceCore integrates machine learning (ML) algorithms with high performance computing to identify novel and disease specific alternative splicing isoforms using its proprietary database of more than 14 million RNA splicing events.

The funding follows a Series A round announced in September 2021, which enabled Envisagenics to scale and commercialize its platform. Since then, the company has established collaborations with Biogen and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, in addition to Bristol Myers Squibb.

“Today, as a profitable company with a strong AI/ML platform, a brilliant team, and world-class collaborations, we are focused on product and asset development to improve patients’ lives,” said Maria Luisa Pineda, Ph.D., Envisagenics co-founder and CEO. “Funding from this round will primarily be used to drive our developmental pipeline, including immunotherapies for multiple indications in oncology and disease-modifying ASOs for neurodegenerative diseases, with the goal of advancing our first asset into the clinic. Along with the continued support of our existing investors, we’re very pleased to welcome Bristol Myers Squibb as a new investor.”