Myria Biosciences Harnesses SynBio and AI to Target Undruggable Conditions
Myria Biosciences AG, a pioneering drug discovery company based in Basel, has successfully closed its pre-seed funding round, surpassing its initial undisclosed target.
The investment was led by Creator Fund, a UK-based venture capital firm specialising in deep technology startups emerging from Europe’s top universities.
Myria's platform, Genetically Engineered Modular Molecular Scaffolds (GEMMS), leverages synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and high-throughput screening to create complex molecule drugs inspired by natural products. This approach targets previously undruggable conditions. By utilising data-driven design, Myria is building a portfolio of highly specific biopharmaceuticals to address critical unmet medical needs.
In the competitive landscape of AI-driven drug discovery, Myria stands out with its unique SynBio methodology. This allows the biological production and testing of novel therapeutic compounds at an unprecedented scale, generating millions of molecules in a single week.
"We are unlocking nature's molecular toolbox through synthetic intelligence," explained Myria CEO Dr Steven Schmitt. "With our GEMMS platform, we can genetically engineer cells to produce novel natural product-inspired compounds beyond the limitations of evolutionary biology. This allows us to systematically generate and optimize molecular therapeutic candidates for highly challenging disease targets."
Myria Biosciences is a spin-off integrating science from ETH Zurich, the Max Planck Institute, and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland. Headquartered in Basel, the Swiss corporation has additional locations in the UK and Germany. The founder team is headed by CEO Steven Schmitt, CSO Kenan Bozhüyük, and COO Irene Wüthrich.
The new funding will enable Myria to expand its world-class scientific team, kick-start its internal drug candidate pipeline, and forge additional partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies.
“With intellectual property in AI and several international biotech patents the brilliant Myria team will massively accelerate drug discovery. We are confident they will achieve major break-throughs by accessing new chemical space and transforming how therapeutics are engineered,” said Jamie Macfarlane, CEO at Creator Fund.
Capital Blue Partners, Rockmount Seed Investments, and Swiss and German investors also participated in the oversubscribed pre-seed round.
