Designing small-molecule drug candidates using AI and molecular simulation
Drug discovery requires extensive laboratory experiments and clinical trials to assess the effectiveness and safety of molecular compounds. This testing makes development slow and costly. Research teams need to select promising candidates for further development.
InVirtuoLabs combines generative AI and molecular simulation to design and refine small-molecule drug candidates. Its virtual laboratory helps prioritise compounds for pharmaceutical collaborations and the company's own discovery programmes.
What stands out about InVirtuoLabs
Reports CRO laboratory confirmation of AI-designed agonists in 2026, with EC50 down to 17 nM and Emax of 84%.
Source ↗Signed a 2026 R&D collaboration with Helsinn to design drug candidates using Helsinn's proprietary compound library.
Source ↗Closed a €2.85 million pre-seed funding round.
Source ↗Awarded a €2.3 million Eurostars grant with partners for NEUROSPARK, targeting a rare neurodegenerative movement disorder.
Source ↗Demonstrated InVirtuoGen on molecular optimisation benchmarks, achieving higher lead-optimisation docking scores than prior baselines.
Source ↗Won first prize at the 2024 Boldbrain Startup Challenge.
Source ↗Founded by Gianvito Grasso, a computational science PhD with over a decade of molecular simulation and machine-learning research.
Source ↗Supported through the USI Startup Centre's incubation programme in Lugano.
Source ↗Co-founded by Sertac Yeltekin, who previously founded Zingforce Ventures and co-founded Purpose Venture Capital.
Source ↗Won the 2024 Boldbrain Startup Challenge, an accelerator organised by Fondazione Agire with the USI Startup Centre.
Source ↗Get a curated pipeline of healthcare and life sciences startups aligned with your investment thesis.