Enveda Biosciences, a biotech startup founded by Viswa Colluru, has secured $55 million in Series B2 funding to further its mission of using artificial intelligence (AI) to discover new medicines from natural sources. The latest round brings the company’s total funding to $230 million, with new investors including Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy, Premji Invest, and Lingotto Investment Fund, alongside existing supporters like Kinnevik, True Ventures, FPV, Level Ventures, and Jazz Venture Partners.
Leveraging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Technology
For centuries, traditional remedies such as willow bark, which led to the development of aspirin, have played a critical role in medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 40% of modern pharmaceuticals have origins in natural compounds used historically by various cultures. Despite these successes, scientists have only scratched the surface in identifying and harnessing nature’s full medicinal potential.
Identifying and testing natural compounds is inherently complex and time-consuming. Recognizing this challenge, Colluru, a former employee of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, founded Enveda in 2019. The Boulder-based company employs AI to streamline the discovery of new drugs from plant chemistry, revolutionizing a field traditionally marked by labor-intensive processes.
Enveda’s proprietary AI technology analyzes vast amounts of digital information regarding historical plant use across different cultures. Colluru explained, “We discovered that geographically separated cultures from across the world were much more likely to use similar plants for similar diseases and symptoms, even though they never talked to each other. They discovered that a certain plant helps stomach ache, or a certain plant helps like a fever or a headache, and that is literally thousands of years of experiential human wisdom.”
A Unique Approach to Drug Discovery
Enveda’s database now includes 38,000 medicinal plants linked to around 12,000 diseases and symptoms. The company’s AI identifies plants with high therapeutic potential, which are then collected and tested using Enveda’s laboratory and AI model. Unlike traditional methods focusing on individual molecules, Enveda’s transformer model deciphers the “chemical language” of entire plant samples, allowing for a holistic approach to drug discovery.
“Once we know their shape, we can prioritize the right sets of molecules and say, this will one day be a medicine,” Colluru said.
This innovative approach is beginning to yield promising results. Enveda has two drugs slated for clinical trials later this year: one for skin conditions such as eczema and another for inflammatory bowel diseases.
Financial Backing and Strategic Partnerships
The recent $55 million funding round not only provides financial backing but also strategic partnerships. Microsoft’s involvement includes cloud credits in addition to its cash investment, bolstering Enveda’s computational resources. The Nature Conservancy’s participation underscores the environmental and sustainable aspect of Enveda’s mission.
From my perspective, Enveda’s method represents a significant advancement in drug discovery. By marrying ancient medicinal knowledge with cutting-edge AI, the company is poised to uncover new treatments more efficiently than ever before. This approach not only accelerates the development timeline but also opens up possibilities for novel treatments derived from the rich, unexplored diversity of the natural world.
Industry Implications and Future Prospects
Enveda’s success has broader implications for the pharmaceutical industry. The use of AI to expedite the discovery of natural compounds could revolutionize how new drugs are developed. Other companies, such as the U.K.-based Pangea Bio, are also exploring plant-based drug discovery for neurological conditions, indicating a growing trend.
While much attention has been focused on compounds from cannabis and psychedelics, Enveda’s broader scope could unlock a wider array of therapeutic options. “Everybody is focused on cannabis and psychedelics, which are just a tiny fraction of the natural world,” Colluru remarked. “The natural world is so rich in its chemical diversity and biological effects that studying just 100 plants is enough to give so many potential drugs that we don’t know what to do with them.”
As Enveda prepares for its Series C funding round and moves forward with clinical trials, the biotech community and investors alike will be watching closely. The company’s innovative use of AI in harnessing natural remedies may well set a new standard in the quest for novel and effective medicines.
