ZURICH: Swiss AI start-up Atlast Bio, which runs drug trials on virtual patients, has received $12.5 million in funding led by Swedish venture capital firm Creandum, an early backer of Spotify and Trade Republic, the company said on Tuesday.
* Atlas Bio is aiming to replace Phase II drug trials, which it says cost more than $100 million, take two to three years and see about 70% of drugs fail at that stage
* An AI foundation model, trained on about two million human RNA readouts, would replace these and animal testing with 12-week simulations, the company said
* Virtual trials can also evaluate drugs across multiple diseases simultaneously, something not feasible in conventional clinical trials, Atlas Bio added
* Results from a first trial are expected within 6 weeks
* Atlas Bio was founded by former Google employees alongside AI and pharmaceutical specialists
