WhiteLab Genomics, a Paris-based BioTech company that uses AI to design the building blocks of genomic medicines, has closed a €23.2 million ($26 million) Series B funding round.
The round was led by AVP, an independent global investment platform managing over €2.5 billion in assets. The round also saw participation from new investors Yaday Health and Blast Club, while existing backers Omnes Capital and Debiopharm Innovation Fund also joined this round.
“WhiteLab is building AI that designs genomic medicines that actually work in vivo, not just on paper. AI is about to have a real, tangible impact on genomic medicine and to contribute meaningfully to the development of new therapies.The combination of computational design, experimental validation and the ability to translate those designs into differentiated bio-assets is what attracted us to the company. We are very excited to join the journey and support David and the team as they enter this next phase,” said François Robinet, managing partner of AVP.
Founded in 2019 by David Del Bourgo, Lucia Cinque, and Julien Cottineau, the Y-Combinator backed WhiteLab Genomics works at the intersection of AI and biology. The company has developed a proprietary platform called ALFRED (AI-Led Framework for Rational Exploration in Drug Design) to tackle one of genomic medicine’s most stubborn problems: getting a therapy safely and effectively to the right cells in the body.
Using ALFRED, WhiteLab designs and optimises both viral and non-viral delivery vehicles, such as adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) and lipid nanoparticles, as well as programmable genetic payloads. They then experimentally validate and test them in vivo.
WhiteLab has already demonstrated the potential of its ALFRED platform by working alongside the Paris Brain Institute. The company used ALFRED to engineer novel AAVs that, in in vivo studies, crossed the blood-brain barrier while achieving a strong brain-to-liver targeting ratio and no detectable liver signal, a significant result considering the brain is one of the hardest organs to reach for medicines.
At the upcoming European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) Annual Congress, WhiteLab is set to present additional in vivo data from its collaborations with Sanofi, Cytiva (Danaher), the Paris Brain Institute, and Institut Imagine.
“AI can help us design better genomic medicines, but what ultimately matters is whether those designs work in living systems. We have already presented compelling results,” said Del Bourgo, co-founder and CEO of WhiteLab Genomics.
The fresh capital will fund the expansion of WhiteLab’s in vivo validation work beyond AAVs to non-viral delivery technologies and programmable synthetic promoters. The company will also use the funding to strengthen its Boston hub for North American biopharma partnerships and grow its West Coast presence, while exploring opportunities in Japan and South Korea.
“This financing allows us to scale that work across multiple delivery technologies and payloads, build a portfolio of validated bio-assets and bring them to biopharma partners around the world,” added Del Bourgo.
Alongside the funding, the company also announced that AVP’s Robinet, Yaday Health managing partner and founder/CEO of NAYA Therapeutics, Dr. Daniel Teper will join WhiteLab’s Board of Directors.
WhiteLab Genomics, which operates from Paris, Boston, and Montreal, aims to build a portfolio of experimentally validated bio-assets that the company can advance independently and through partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing the next generation of genomic medicines. The company sees precise delivery unlocking potential treatment for conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to ALS, lysosomal storage diseases, and glioblastoma.