Duke-Founded AI Drug Discovery Company Secures Major New Funding
Ten63 was founded by Duke professor Bruce Donald and his former Ph.D. students. (Photo courtesy of Donald)
Ten63 Therapeutics, a biotechnology company with strong Duke University roots, has secured major new investment to advance its artificial intelligence-driven approach to drug discovery. The company recently announced a strategic financing round that brings its total funding to more than $45 million, with support from major investors including the Gates Foundation and the Chugai Venture Fund.
Ten63 was founded by Duke professor Bruce Donald and his former Ph.D. students, Marcel Frenkel (now CEO) and Mark Hallen (now CTO), and the company’s technology is based on research originally developed at Duke. Donald, the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Biochemistry, Mathematics and Chemistry, has spent decades developing computational methods to design new proteins and drugs using advanced algorithms and molecular modeling.
Today, Ten63 employs 40 people globally — half based locally at RTP — and counts with four of Donald’s former Ph.D. students among its leadership. At the center of Ten63’s work is its proprietary platform, called BEYOND, which uses artificial intelligence and physics-based simulations to test trillions of potential drug molecules on a computer before they are ever made in a lab. The goal is to dramatically speed up drug discovery and tackle diseases that have been difficult — or even impossible — to treat with traditional methods. The company is particularly focused on so-called “undruggable” targets, including proteins involved in cancer and viral diseases.
The new funding will help Ten63 expand this technology and continue developing new treatments, including work supported by the Gates Foundation to develop affordable medicines for global health challenges such as human papillomavirus (HPV).
For Duke, the company represents a powerful example of how university research can lead to real-world impact. What began as academic research in computational biology and chemistry has grown into a company working to transform how new medicines are discovered, and Duke faculty and alumni are at the center of that effort