AbSci, the American company that uses artificial intelligence techniques in the field of synthetic biology, acquired Totient, spin-off from the startup Seven Bridges, and announced that it will start trading publicly on Nasdaq.
Seven Bridges, a biotechnology startup co-founded from Belgrade, is one of the best capitalised startups in the region, with over $100 million received through a number of investments. In 2017, Seven Bridges decided to create a spin-off company, with the goal of using technology to discover therapies and drugs for serious diseases. Since then, their spin-off company Totient uses artificial intelligence techniques to create therapies based on antibodies that the human body creates in response to autoimmune diseases, infections and cancers.
Similarly, AbSci works with living organisms to create therapeutic proteins. The company’s technology is used to accelerate the process of discovery and development of biopharmaceuticals. The goal is to bypass the current processes of developing protein-based drugs, which often require production in mammalian cells, a complicated and difficult method. AbSci’s aim is to find easier solution, since proteins form the basis for many key treatments against cancer or other serious diseases.
The reason for the acquisition is the combination of the results Totient has achieved so far and the method is uses. AbSci states that this will make their existing technology platform for creating drugs more complete and effective.
Earlier this year, AbSci acquired Denovium, a startup that is developing deep learning technology to analyze protein function and behavior, and received an undisclosed amount of investment from Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund.
