WhiteLab Genomics raises $26M Series B to design genomic medicines with AI
What's the deal? WhiteLab Genomics, a genomic medicine developer, has raised a $26 million Series B led by AVPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, chief executive officer David Del Bourgo told Axios Pro. Omnes CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Yaday Health, Blast ClubDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Debiopharm Innovation FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joined the round, which brings total funding to about $37 million.
How it works: WhiteLab's Alfred platform uses AI to design viral and non-viral delivery vehicles and programmable genetic payloads. The designs are then experimentally validated and tested in vivo to identify drug candidates. The company says the process cuts the time and cost of developing genomic medicines.
What's the endgame? Rather than taking assets to the clinic itself, WhiteLab runs about 15 revenue-generating partnerships with biotechs and large pharmaceutical firms, including Sanofi. Other partners include CytivaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, DebiopharmDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the University of MassachusettsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Vision InstituteDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in Paris, and the Paris Brain InstituteDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
"We specialize in what we're very good at doing … bringing preclinical assets to their highest level of validation as possible, and then partnering with pharma," Del Bourgo said.
Why now? The funding arrives as the life sciences sector recovers from a multiyear slump. Biopharma venture funding topped $10 billion in Q2 — only the third quarter above that mark since early 2022, per PitchBook.
Behind the scenes: Del Bourgo said he is open to being acquired and that buyers have approached WhiteLab, though it would also consider a US IPO. The company has two to three years of runway.
AVP managing partner François Robinet framed the appeal of the model: "You have the best of both worlds because you are paid for providing the platform, and you are paid in case of success (in) the drug development process."
The signal: At $26 million, the round sits in the upper third of comparable deals by size — a sign that investors are again backing platform plays that generate revenue through partnerships rather than betting on a single clinical asset.
Read more: Axios
Image credit: Whitelab Genomics
