Schrödinger has raised more money, bringing the total size of its recent haul up to $110 million. The computing-enabled R&D shop will use the funds to advance its nascent pipeline of wholly owned drugs.
New York-based Schrödinger has moved deeper and deeper into biopharma R&D over the past 15 years, following up an early drug discovery collaboration with the foundation of Nimbus Therapeutics and the escalation of its internal activities. The shift in focus has ramped up Schrödinger’s financing requirements, leading it to raise $85 million at the start of the year.
Now, Schrödinger has held another close to the financing round, bringing the total haul up to $110 million. Invus, Pavilion Capital, Laurion Capital Management and Tubus Management—the investment fund of Michael Antonov, a co-founder of Facebook-owned virtual reality (VR) player Oculus—were among the backers.
The list of investors provides further evidence of Schrödinger’s ability to appeal to both traditional biopharma investors and backers with little exposure to the sector. Laurion has backed a biotech before, participating in Pfizer-spinout SpringWorks Therapeutics’ $125 million raise last month, but Antonov has hewed close to his own background in the past, investing in VR and drone startups.
Schrödinger is underpinned by computing, but it will use the money to step up its drug R&D activity. The company has built a team of drug discovery and translational scientists, given them access to its computing capabilities and tasked them with advancing internal, wholly owned candidates.
To date, Schrödinger has shared few details of the specifics of its internal activities, reflecting their early-stage nature. But its track record of playing a role in two Agios cancer drugs that won approval and several more undisclosed assets that are in the clinic demonstrates its credentials.
Schrödinger will use some of the $110 million to expand its collaborations with biopharma partners and continue to invest in its technology platform.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article listed Tubus Management and Michael Antonov's investment fund as distinct entities. Tubus Management is Michael Antonov's investment fund.