This UK startup uses AI to treat rare diseases quickly

The traditional drug discovery model, which is meant to treat rare diseases takes over a decade and consumes a huge investment. This is where the advancement of technology comes to play and makes it beneficial for patients by coming up with faster, more cost-effective and more efficient treatments.

One such company is Healx, which was founded in 2014 by Dr. Tim Guilliams and Dr. David Brown. The company uses Artificial Intelligence and patient-inspired technology, which makes it specialise in treatments for rare diseases.

Bags €50.5M funding

Cambridge-based Healx just announced that it raised $56 million, which is nearly €50.5 million in a Series B funding round led by one of the largest VC firms in Europe Atomico. Others such as Intel Capital, btov Partners, and Global Brain and existing investors, including Balderton Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Jonathan Milner also participated in the round.

This Series B round follows a $10 million (nearly €9.5 million) Series A round in 2018. Since then, Healx has strengthened its senior executive team and more than doubled overall headcount.

Rare Treatment Accelerator programme on cards

Healx will use this investment to develop its own therapeutic pipeline and launch its global Rare Treatment Accelerator programme. By leveraging AI and combining knowledge, expertise, and information, the company can discover new treatments and make them available at clinics within 24 months. Also, patient communities can apply to join its Rare Treatment Accelerator programme online.

Clinical trials to test numerous treatment options

Previously, Healx validated the innovative model along with Fragile X Research Foundation. For the uninitiated, Fragile X syndrome is a leading genetic cause of autism. Currently, there is no approved treatment to cure this disease. With the collaboration between Healx and FRAXA, the promising clinical trials to test numerous treatment combinations will be launched soon. Later in 2020, clinical programmes for other rare diseases will be started.

Rare disease treatments by 2025

Healx operates with the mission to provide 100 rare disease treatments in the clinics by 2025. It’s AI platform called Healnet delivers data-driven treatment predictions that shorten the discovery-to-clinic time to as little as 24 months. This is the world’s leading AI platform, which works on rare diseases and integrates scientific literature, proprietary data, and clinical trial results with a biomedical knowledge graph.

Main image picture credits: Healx

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