NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang recently announced an investment in OpenAI, sparking global discussion. In fact, NVIDIA’s investments in artificial intelligence extend far beyond the technology sector and into healthcare. One notable example is Iambic Therapeutics, an AI-driven drug discovery startup focused on building next-generation AI platforms for novel drug development, which has also won the confidence of Jensen Huang.
Founded in 2019, Iambic integrates physics and AI to develop two proprietary technology platforms. The first, NeuralPLexer, predicts how human proteins and drug molecules interact in three-dimensional space. The second platform, Enchant, integrates molecular characteristics with clinical data to predict the clinical efficacy of new drugs.
The accuracy of these technologies surpasses that of major competitors, including Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold 3 and TxGemma models, enabling shorter experimental timelines and lower failure rates in drug development. Leveraging these platforms, Iambic has already designed small-molecule anticancer drugs and advanced them into Phase I clinical trials in just two years. By comparison, AI-driven drug candidates in the industry typically take an average of five years to reach clinical trials.
Behind Iambic’s record-setting speed in AI-driven drug R&D is the backing of a group of world-class investors. Its shareholder list includes NVIDIA, the Qatar Investment Authority, as well as leading global venture capital firms such as Nexus Ventures, Catalio Capital, Coatue Ventures, and Illumina Ventures. Over the past six years, the company has raised more than US$300 million (over NT$10 billion).
On the 10th of this month, Iambic further announced that it had raised more than US$100 million in an oversubscribed new funding round. In addition to increased participation from existing investors, new investors include Regeneron Ventures, the venture arm of top-50 global pharmaceutical company Regeneron, as well as ARK Invest. Everbright Biofund also joined this round, making it the only investor from Taiwan. This formidable lineup has drawn significant attention from the biomedical industry.
Powered by its proprietary AI technologies, Iambic has become a partner to multiple international pharmaceutical companies. It has outlined two business models: one involves direct collaboration with pharmaceutical companies to co-develop new drugs; the other licenses its proprietary platforms to pharmaceutical partners in exchange for royalties and project-based service fees.
One of the most representative recent cases occurred in July this year, when U.S.-based oncology drug developer Revolution Medicines announced a partnership with Iambic to train AI models and optimize drug development processes. Under the agreement, Iambic received an upfront payment of up to US$25 million and is set to receive additional milestone payments over time.
The transformative impact of AI on the healthcare industry is now widely recognized. As a technology leader in the field, Iambic is well positioned to deliver faster, more precise, and more cost-effective drug discovery solutions, potentially reshaping the global pharmaceutical landscape. This December, Iambic CEO Tom Miller will speak at the Asia Medical Technology Innovation Forum (MedTex 2025), where he will share the company’s commercialization journey, its latest proprietary technologies, and key global investment trends with the greatest potential heading into 2026 at this closed-door forum.
Resource: 黃仁勳也投資它！AI製藥新創Iambic 亞洲醫療科技創新論壇分享獨門技術
