Entos Collects $53M to Bring Quantum Tech to AI Drug Design

(FierceBiotech) Entos, which incorporates features of quantum mechanics into its drug-designing algorithms has received $53 Million series A round was co-led by the tech investment firms Coatue and Catalio Capital Management, with additional investments from OrbiMed, Sequoia Capital, Nexus Ventures and Freeflow.
They’re backing Entos’ OrbNet platform, which incorporates features of quantum mechanics into its drug-designing algorithms. The company aims to leap-frog the traditional trade-offs seen between accuracy and computational requirements, by predicting the molecular energies at play within a compound’s nuclear structure.
The new funding will help accelerate OrbNet’s development and help integrate the system with robotic hardware for synthesizing the molecules generated, to quickly advance them into preclinical testing.
The company has also outlined plans to quickly grow its staff, to help fill out its newly opened laboratory and headquarters at the UCSD Science Park in San Diego, and ink partnerships with biopharmas, as well as chemical and materials companies—such as its three-year deal with the industry giant Dow, signed in March, to help develop catalysts for its production of polyolefins, a common polymer found in a wide variety of plastics.