Sanofi threw its support behind Enveda on Wednesday, investing $20 million in the biotech's AI-powered drug discovery platform that draws on a chemical catalogue of molecules produced by living organisms.The fresh capital bumps up the total of Enveda's series C to $150 million; the biotech had announced an initial $130-million tranche in November. Enveda’s platform integrates computational methods with chemical and biological knowledge derived from its searchable database of 38,000 plants linked to 12,000 human diseases and symptoms. By leveraging "nature’s chemical diversity," the company aims to develop new drug classes that offer advantages in safety, efficacy and convenience.Last year, the biotech launched a Phase I safety study of its lead oral candidate, ENV-294, in healthy participants. Enveda is exploring its potential to treat atopic dermatitis, asthma and other immunology and inflammation (I&I) indications.The funding will help Enveda expand its clinical pipeline beyond ENV-294 and fine-tune its AI technologies as it looks to bring about "a new era in metabolite-driven drug development.""We believe that nature holds the key to the next generation of breakthrough medicines, and we are proving that in the clinic," CEO Viswa Colluru said in a company release. "This investment from a global leader in immunology is a testament to the transformative potential of our platform."Sanofi has been a prolific backer of AI technologies in drug discovery and clinical development. Over the past few years, the pharma has forged partnerships with Aqemia, BioMap, Insilico, Exscientia, Formation Bio and OpenAI, among others. Its collaboration with the latter two has already borne fruit; in November, the trio pulled the curtain back on their AI tool, called Muse, that's intended to optimise patient recruitment for clinical trials.The French drugmaker has also forged its own AI Centre of Excellence to "identify, develop and scale innovative solutions, leveraging world-class mentorship from top academics and industry professionals." For more on Sanofi's use of AI, see Vital Signs: Pulling back the curtain on AI in big pharma.