Toronto-based artificial intelligence drug development company Biossil Inc. has become Canada's newest unicorn after raising US$153 million in an all-equity financing led by the OpenAI Startup Fund. The round values the Toronto startup at US$1 billion. Biossil plans to use the capital to expand clinical development capacity and selectively acquire more drug candidates for its pipeline.
Financing Details and Investor Support
The financing was led by the OpenAI Startup Fund, with participation from Founders Fund, Quiet Capital, Modern Capital, Golden Ventures, Panache Ventures, Duke University's endowment fund, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. The Globe and Mail first reported the details, and Biossil chief executive officer Anthony Mouchantaf confirmed the financing to BetaKit. Mouchantaf, a former venture capital strategy leader at Royal Bank of Canada, co-founded Biossil in 2023 with Alexander Mosa.
Valuation and Corporate Structure
The all-equity deal values Biossil at US$1 billion and includes a small portion paid to early employees. Biossil disclosed in an August filing with Corporations Canada that it created a new class of 5.37 million preferred shares, each valued at US$28.69. That per share price is triple the value of shares issued in last year's financing, reflecting the company's rapid valuation increase and investor confidence.
A Different Model for Drug Development
Biossil uses artificial intelligence to identify molecules that failed advanced clinical trials but may still succeed in specific patient groups or with better trial designs. The company buys or licenses those assets and returns them to development without starting from scratch, reducing years of studies and hundreds of millions of dollars in costs. Biossil has acquired or licensed 12 molecules and works with partners that include SickKids, Harvard University, and the Mayo Clinic.
Clinical Scope and Trial Activity
Biossil is pursuing programs across sickle cell disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, glioblastoma, breast cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. The company recently signed trial collaboration agreements with SickKids, Toronto's University Health Network, and Stanford University's Skin Innovation and Interventional Research Group. Its pipeline also includes a precision antibiotic acquired from Summit Therapeutics for an upfront payment of US$500,000, with additional payments tied to regulatory and commercial milestones.
Sickle Cell and Glioblastoma Programs
Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer each abandoned sickle cell drug candidates after late-stage efficacy trials, but Biossil's AI platform uncovered reasons to revisit those molecules. Johnson & Johnson's senicapoc failed on pain relief but showed benefits in preventing red blood cell breakdown, which can cause anemia and other serious complications. Biossil is now sponsoring a sickle cell trial at Canadian institutions and launching glioblastoma trials with Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany and Aarhus University in Denmark.
AI Companies Expand in Healthcare
The financing comes as OpenAI and rival Anthropic expand beyond general purpose AI models into specialized life sciences tools. Anthropic recently established a wet laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area, where its Claude AI assistant reportedly discovered a novel enzyme system with properties reminiscent of CRISPR. No AI-designed drug candidate has yet reached market, but investors are betting that Biossil's repurposed clinical assets can reach approval faster than programs starting from scratch.
Biossil's US$153 million round and US$1 billion valuation underscore growing confidence in AI-driven drug repurposing. The company plans to use the financing to build clinical development infrastructure in the United States and Canada while expanding its pipeline of acquired molecules. By returning failed drug candidates to trials, Biossil aims to shorten development timelines, reduce costs, and deliver new therapies to patients.
Source: Theglobeandmail.com