Healx Ltd.

CAMBRIDGE, U.K.--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Healx, an AI-enabled, clinical-stage biotech company specializing in rare diseases, announced it has raised $47 million in a Series C round. The Series C round was co-led by Silicon Valley-based R42 Group and Atomico, one of Europe’s largest venture capital firms, with participation from new and existing investors including Balderton, Jonathan Milner, Global Brain, btov, Ayana Capital, o2h and VU Venture Partners. Proceeds of the financing will be used to advance the company’s pipeline of medicines in rare oncology, renal and neurodevelopmental disorders, including advancing its lead program HLX-1502 through a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1). In conjunction with the financing, Stanford Medicine Adjunct Professor Ronjon Nag, Ph.D., founder of R42 Group and 2024 Silicon Valley Hall of Fame AI inductee, joins the board of Healx. “It is truly a pivotal time at Healx,” said Tim Guilliams, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Healx. “By December 2024, we will advance HLX-1502 into a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with NF1 both for plexiform neurofibroma, a genetic condition with limited treatment options and for cutaneous neurofibroma, for which there are no FDA approved options. We are also generating important preclinical data for multiple additional compounds identified using our novel generative AI drug discovery engine. Those compounds target rare diseases with significant unmet needs, including additional nerve-related tumor disorders, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and neurodevelopmental disorders such as Angelman syndrome. The Healx drug discovery pipeline is powered by Healnet, an AI-driven discovery platform designed to identify clinically de-risked therapeutic opportunities for rare diseases. Healnet incorporates recent advances in generative AI to find connections between biological and chemical entities that could be turned into new treatments. Healx was co-founded in Cambridge (UK) by its chairman and Viagra co-inventor David Brown, Ph.D ., and Tim Guilliams, Ph.D. , with a mission to apply emerging technologies to speed the discovery of rare disease treatments. U.S. FDA IND Clearance Healx also announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with its Phase 2 clinical trial of HLX-1502. This trial will focus on treating adults with NF1 and inoperable plexiform neurofibroma. “This IND approval marks another significant milestone in our efforts to harness powerful AI to develop a new treatment for NF1-associated plexiform neurofibroma,” said Tim Guilliams, Ph.D., CEO of Healx. “We are committed to advancing this promising investigational treatment through clinical development and bringing it one step closer to patients in need." HLX-1502 is a tablet taken orally that works differently than other treatments and offers a new and differentiated investigational treatment option for patients with NF1. NF1 is a rare genetic disorder associated with predisposition to develop multiple benign and malignant tumors. It affects approximately 1 in 2,500 individuals. Two notable types of tumors associated with NF1 are plexiform neurofibromas and cutaneous neurofibromas. Plexiform neurofibromas are complex tumors growing aggressively along nerves, which often leads to significant morbidity and risk of malignant transformation. These tumors can affect various parts of the body, causing functional impairments, disfigurement and pain and requiring multidisciplinary management. Currently, there is only one treatment option available for some children with plexiform neurofibromas which is, however, associated with tolerability and safety concerns including gastrointestinal, heart, eye and skin toxicity. Cutaneous neurofibromas are benign tumors that often cause significant symptoms, leading to impairment in quality of life, and also result in considerable cosmetic concerns. There are no approved treatments for NF1-associated cutaneous neurofibromas, leaving a major unmet need for the estimated 3 million people with NF1 worldwide. HLX-1502 has received Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the FDA for treating NF1. These FDA designations provide several benefits to encourage the development of treatments for rare diseases and further highlight HLX-1502’s potential to significantly improve the lives of NF1 patients. “I could not be more excited to start this trial soon. Our treatment – with its novel mechanism of action and potential for a compelling and differentiated safety profile – represents a significant advancement in the NF1 field and a much needed hope for the NF1 community. It has the potential to greatly improve NF1 patients’ lives, which is by far what matters the most and what drives us,” said Simone Manso, Healx head of neurofibromatosis therapy development. Healx has an investment agreement with its long-term research partner, Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF), whereby Healx will receive milestone-driven payments from CTF to support the advance of Healx’s NF programs including its lead candidate, HLX-1502. CTF has been a longtime partner of Healx and actively supports its mission to deliver much-needed therapies to this patient group. About Healnet Behind advances in our therapeutic pipeline lies Healnet, a unique AI-driven drug discovery engine that is tailored to discover treatments for rare diseases. The platform uses disease multi-omics signature reversal and AI to identify novel therapeutic hits. Using Healx lab-generated phenotypic and transcriptomics profiling data, novel disease biology, mechanisms and targets are identified, which enables the design of second-generation compounds using virtual screening, predictive modeling and phenomics. Healnet is now incorporating modern advances in generative AI, increasing the quantity and quality of its data sources, creating intelligent AI workflows and enabling natural language reasoning over its biological and chemical predictions. To better design optimized novel compounds for our programs, Healx will develop chemically-aware large language models (LLMs). Moving beyond general text-based large language models like ChatGPT from OpenAI, Healx is exploring how models trained on raw biological data that speak the language of the cell can identify and exploit targets and result in greater understanding of rare disease biology. These technological capabilities empower Healx’s scientists to operate with enhanced expertise, efficiency and accuracy in order to uncover previously undiscoverable treatments. About Healx Healx is a generative AI enabled, clinical-stage, rare disease biotech pioneering the next generation of drug discovery in order to bring novel, effective treatments to rare disease patients around the world. There are 10,000 known rare diseases that affect 400 million people across the globe, but only 5% of those conditions have an approved treatment. By combining generative AI technology with deep drug discovery and development expertise, Healx can accelerate the pace, increase the scale and improve the chance of success of rare disease treatment development in order to deliver global patient impact. Healx exists because every rare disease patient deserves a treatment. Healx was founded in Cambridge, UK, by Tim Guilliams, Ph.D., a biochemical engineer and tech entrepreneur, and David Brown, Ph.D., co-inventor of Viagra and former global head of drug discovery at Roche. Healx has raised approximately $110 million to date. For more information, visit www.healx.ai or follow us on LinkedIn or X .

Healx plans to advance its lead candidate into a Phase II trial for neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) by year-end, thanks to a $47-million series C co-led by R42 Group and Atomico. Thursday’s round brings the AI-powered rare disease company’s total funding to $110 million. NF1 candidate HLX-1502, along with Healx’s other programmes in oncology, renal, and neurodevelopmental disorders, were discovered using the firm’s Healnet AI platform. The technology identifies clinically de-risked therapeutic candidates by making connections between biological and chemical entities that could be turned into new treatments.Additionally, Healnet can reverse disease multiomic signatures to identify potential therapeutics, thanks to Healx’s lab-generated phenotypic and transcriptomics data library. By discovering novel disease mechanisms with AI, the company aims to design second-generation compounds with predictive modelling, among other tools.Healx has plans to develop “chemically-aware” large language models (LLMs) that will be trained on biological data to “speak the language of the cell” and identify new rare disease targets.Thursday’s financing will also go towards “generating important preclinical data for multiple additional compounds identified using our novel generative AI drug discovery engine,” CEO Tim Guilliams said. “Those compounds target rare diseases with significant unmet needs, including additional nerve-related tumour disorders, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and neurodevelopmental disorders such as Angelman syndrome.”The round saw additional participation from new and existing investors including Balderton, Jonathan Milner, Global Brain, btov, Ayana Capital, o2h and VU Venture Partners.

Milestone payments from CTF will support advance of Healx's lead compound, HLX-1502, to clinical trials and broader Neurofibromatosis Type 1 program Investment reinforces long-term, patient-focused partnership combining Healx's proprietary AI-powered drug discovery platform with CTF's preclinical and clinical research and patient community knowledge NEW YORK, April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Healx, the AI-powered, patient-inspired, techbio company pioneering the next generation of drug discovery, today announced that it has signed an investment agreement with its long-term partner, Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF). Milestone-driven payments from CTF will support the advance of Healx's AI-powered neurofibromatosis program including its lead candidate, HLX-1502, which is on course to enter a Phase 2 clinical trial in the coming months. Continue Reading Healx has partnered with CTF since 2020 to combine its cutting-edge AI platform and drug discovery expertise in identifying novel treatments for rare diseases such as Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) with CTF's preclinical and clinical research and patient knowledge. Investment merges Healx's AI drug platform with CTF's research/patient insights, fostering a patient-centered alliance. Post this NF1 is a rare genetic condition that causes tumours to grow along the nerves. The two most common types of tumors are plexiform and cutaneous. Currently, there is only one approved treatment, a MEK inhibitor, for a subset of patients with plexiform neurofibromas. There are no approved pharmacological treatments for patients with cutaneous neurofibromas, representing a significant unmet need for the estimated 3 million people with the disease across the globe. Identified using Healx's AI-informed approach, HLX-1502 has a novel mechanism of action, and is supported by data that suggest a favourable safety profile. Healx plans to develop HLX-1502 for both plexiform and cutaneous subtypes of NF1. Financial details are not disclosed. Dr Tim Guilliams, co-founder and CEO, Healx said: "CTF is a long-standing partner of Healx, and this investment underscores their confidence in the potential of Healx's neurofibromatosis program to bring novel treatments to patients with unmet need. Over the years, Healx has been able to appreciate CTF's expertise not only in terms of patient understanding, but also in the broader approach to developing treatments for this highly debilitating disease. Healx is pleased that CTF has decided to deepen its commitment to our AI-enabled research journey to deliver much-needed therapies to this patient group." Dr Annette Bakker, President, CTF said: "Patient-centric research holds a unique position in the R&D ecosystem and the Children's Tumor Foundation is pleased to provide this approach to support Healx's AI-driven search for new neurofibromatosis treatments. We operate as a strategic partner to drug discovery and development pioneers such as Healx, and we hope our commitment will encourage others to invest in such organisations who offer a real chance of improving the lives of the millions of NF patients waiting for treatments." About Healx Healx is a mission-driven techbio company pioneering the next generation of drug discovery in order to bring novel, effective treatments to rare disease patients around the world. There are 10,000 known rare diseases that affect 400 million people across the globe, but only 5% of those conditions have an approved treatment. By combining frontier AI technology with deep drug discovery and development expertise, Healx can accelerate the pace, increase the scale and improve the chance of success of rare disease treatment development in order to meet this huge unmet need and have unprecedented patient impact. Founded in Cambridge, UK by Dr Tim Guilliams (a Biochemical Engineer and techbio entrepreneur) and Dr David Brown (co-inventor of Viagra and former Global Head of Drug Discovery at Roche), Healx has raised over $100 million to date and added a dozen projects to its risk-balanced therapeutic portfolio. For more information, visit or follow on X and LinkedIn. About Children's Tumor Foundation The Children's Tumor Foundation is the world's leading organization dedicated to funding and driving innovative research that will result in effective treatments for the millions of people worldwide living with NF, a group of genetic conditions that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. As a trusted partner to pharmaceutical, biotech, and other industry partners, we collaborate closely to accelerate research and development efforts, ensuring that promising treatments reach those who need them. One in every 2,000 people is born with some type of neurofibromatosis or schwannomatosis, which may lead to blindness, deafness, bone abnormalities, disfigurement, learning disabilities, disabling pain, or cancer. NF affects all populations equally, and while there is no cure yet, the Children's Tumor Foundation mission of driving research, expanding knowledge, and advancing care for the NF community fosters our vision of one day ending NF. CTF would like to acknowledge Goodwin for its continuous pro bono support. For more information, please visit: ctf.org or follow us on LinkedIn. SOURCE Children's Tumor Foundation