Owkin, AI-assisted biotech startup becomes latest French unicorn

After a $180 million investment from Sanofi, pharma, Owkin, a biotech startup based in France, has become France’s latest unicorn.

Sanofi will leverage biotech startup Owkin’s technology in the development of treatments for breast cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and multiple myeloma. Clinical trials can be made more efficient by using Owkin’s predictive AI to find predictive biomarkers for diseases and treatment outcomes.

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It’s also another indicator that big pharmaceutical corporations are starting to take AI-assisted drug and treatment discoveries seriously.

The first clinical trials of medications discovered using AI-assisted approaches are underway, including human trials of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma’s treatment to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, which Exscientia helped develop. Another UK-based AI-assisted biotech business, Healx, recently began clinical trials for a Fragile X condition treatment, indicating that big pharmaceutical corporations are starting to take AI-assisted drug and treatment discoveries seriously.

Image Source: Owking