Deep Origin

About Deep Origin

Deep Origin is a biotechnology company that provides a cloud-native software platform designed to accelerate research and development for scientists and engineers in the life sciences sector. Founded in 2022 by Michael Antonov and Dr. Garegin Papoian, the company is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Antonov, a co-founder of Oculus (acquired by Facebook) and Scaleform (acquired by Autodesk), brings extensive experience in software architecture, high-performance computation, and AI/ML systems from his time at Facebook's AI infrastructure team. Dr. Papoian is a theoretical chemist who founded the startup Biosim AI to develop tools for modeling molecular dynamics and quantum chemistry.

The company was formed through the merger of Antonov's Formic Labs and Papoian's Biosim AI, uniting their shared vision of combining physics-based simulations with generative AI to advance drug discovery. Deep Origin's core technology acts as an operating system for science, providing sophisticated tools to streamline computational analysis, simulate biology, and untangle complex biological data. The platform is engineered to help scientists solve diseases, develop new drugs, and extend human healthspan. It offers features like a code-first API for docking, free energy calculations, and molecular analysis at scale.

Deep Origin targets a market that includes biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical firms, and academic researchers, offering tools accessible to organizations of all sizes. The business model is centered on its software platform that helps these organizations accelerate their R&D pipelines and reduce costs. The company's approach acknowledges that while generative AI is powerful, it often lacks sufficient training data in biological research; therefore, Deep Origin combines AI with physics-based modeling to improve the prediction of which molecules can become effective drugs. This hybrid methodology is a key differentiator in the tech-bio landscape.

The company has secured significant funding, including a $25.5 million seed round in March 2024. It also acquired Biosim AI in January 2024 and was awarded a $31.7M contract from ARPA-H.