Unlearn secures $15M funding, appoints OpenAI CTO to board
- ByStartupStory | March 22, 2023
On Tuesday, AI, a startup that developed a machine learning platform for generating “digital twin” profiles of patients participating in clinical trials, announced that it raised $15 million to expand partnerships and hasten regulatory approval.
Radical Ventures and Wittington Ventures provided the investment, which valued the company at $265 million, the company said.
OpenAI-backed Mira Murati, the Chief Technology Officer, will join the startup’s board.
According to Murati, “the work being done by Unlearn with AI has the potential to greatly transform healthcare, diagnostics, and treatment”.
Unlike generative AI, which is typically used to generate text, images, and code, Unlearn employs AI to create digital twins through neural networks, thereby accelerating clinical drug trials.
Unlearn’s software has the potential to significantly reduce the costs for drug developers by minimising the number of enrollments necessary for clinical trials. This can be accomplished by using digital twins in place of patients who receive a placebo, and if this method proves to be effective, it could result in significant cost savings.
Unlearn secured funding subsequent to its approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in September to use its AI-powered method for carrying out faster and more concise clinical trials. The company also signed numerous multi-million dollar agreements with pharmaceutical companies, such as Merck, following this accomplishment.
Unlearn, a San Francisco-based company, concentrates on a relatively new application of generative AI, which is recognized for teaching AI to take actions based on past data. OpenAI’s popular chatbot, ChatGPT, is a widely known example of this technology.
Unlearn collects patient data from research studies and employs its platform to create a twin for every patient participating in a clinical trial. These twins are then utilised to populate the control arm of the research.
According to Charles Fisher, the CEO of Unlearn, “the company’s emphasis is on Phase III clinical trials, and obtaining approval from regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is essential for making the technology accessible to drug manufacturers worldwide”.
Fisher stated that “Unlearn’s primary objective with regards to regulation is to collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to conduct trials and establish a standard”.
The company has garnered a total of $85 million in funding from investors, including Insight Partners, 8VC, and Mubadala Ventures.
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