In 2011, Alex Zhavoronkov published an article in the journal PLOS ONE with Dr. Charles Cantor, previously director of the Human Genome Project at the Department of Energy (DOE) and founder of Sequenom on the International Aging Research Portfolio (IARP), establishing a public data set tracking government research funding and outcomes.[7] This work formed the basis for an artificial intelligence (AI) pharmacological analysis platform.
Zhavoronkov assertedly founded Insilico Medicine in 2014 as an alternative to animal testing for research and development programs in the pharmaceutical industry, using AI and deep-learning techniques to analyze how a compound will affect cells and what drugs can be used to treat the cells in addition to possible side effects. Through its Pharma.AI division, the company provides machine learning services to different pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and skin care companies.[8][9] Insilico is known for hiring mainly through hackathons such as their own MolHack online hackathon.[10]
The company has multiple collaborations in the applications of next-generation artificial intelligence technologies such as the generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning to the generation of novel molecular structures with desired properties.[11][12] In 2016, Insilico published an algorithm that it called the "Insilico Pathway Activation Network Decomposition Analysis" or "iPANDA" algorithm, asserted to allow researchers "to quickly and efficiently analyze signaling and metabolic pathway perturbation states using gene expression data".[13] A 2015 papers in Nature Communications described the iPANDA dimensionality reduction algorithm.[14] In conjunction with Alan Aspuru-Guzik's group at Harvard, they published a journal article about an improved GAN architecture for molecular generation which combines GANs, reinforcement learning, and a differentiable neural computer.[15]
In 2017, Insilico was named one of the Top five AI companies by NVIDIA for its potential for social impact.[16] Insilico has R&D resources in Belgium, Russia, and the UK and hires talent through hackathons and other local competitions.[17] By mid-2017, Insilico had raised $8.26 million in funding from investors including Deep Knowledge Ventures, JHU A-Level Capital,[18]Jim Mellon,[19] and Juvenescence.[1][20][21][22] In 2019 it raised another $37 million from Fidelity Investments, Eight Roads Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, WuXi AppTec, Baidu, Sinovation, Lilly Asia Ventures, Pavilion Capital, BOLD Capital, and other investors.[23]
The company "focused exclusively on drug discovery until 2019 when it began developing its own therapeutics".[24] In January 2021, Insilico entered into a partnership with Fosun Pharma, to facilitate entry into the Chinese market.[24] Later in 2021 after developing a novel preclinical candidate molecule for a novel target,[25] the company announced a series C $255 million megaround [26] from Warburg Pincus, Sequoia Capital, Orbimed, Mirae Asset Financial Group, and over 25 biotechnology, AI, and pharmaceutical investors.[27][28] By mid-2021, it claimed to have nominated eight preclinical candidates.[24] Another $60 million in new Series D financing was raised in 2022.[24]As of 2023[update] it was reported that over $400 million had been invested in the company.[29] In 2023, Zhavoronkov stated that he "moved the company's R&D to China to capitalize on 'half a trillion dollars' worth of infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of scientists [provided by the government] to enable AI-designed drugs".[30] In mid-2024, it was reported that the corporate headquarters had relocated to Boston, Massachusetts.[2] In November 2024, Insilico was named one of the top 50 AI innovators by Fortune magazine,[31] and in November 2025, it was named one of the 50 leading corporate institutions in biological science research for 2025 by the journal Nature.[32]
Ties with Government Institutions of Russia
In 2016 the Russian subsidiary of the company, Insilico LLC, obtained the status of a participant in the Skolkovo Project as a resident of the biomedical cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation. According to official materials of the foundation, the subsidiary of Insilico Medicine placed a significant share of its research activities in Russia, and the company’s founder, Alex Zhavoronkov, emphasized the importance of the infrastructural and organizational support provided by the innovation center.[33][34][35]
The status of a Skolkovo Project participant provides companies with a special tax and customs regime, including exemption from corporate income tax and value-added tax for a number of operations, zero property tax, and reduced social insurance contributions. These measures are set out in the foundation’s regulations and explanatory materials for residents, and they apply to Insilico LLC as an accredited participant.[36][37]
The Russian subsidiary of Insilico Medicine also became one of the largest recipients of grant funding from the Skolkovo Foundation. According to publicly available grant data, the company’s project dedicated to applying the iPANDA signaling pathway analysis algorithm and deep learning methods to omics data for drug discovery received a grant of 89.99 million rubles, placing it among the ten largest grant recipients of the foundation.[38][39]
Indirect ties with government institutions are also reflected in the company’s collaboration with Russian universities funded by the federal budget. In particular, researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), an internet censorship company with a high government ownership stake Mail.Ru Group.[40][41]
After the introduction of American and European sanctions targeting the Skolkovo innovation center following the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the company shifted its operational focus to the United Arab Emirates and subsequently removed public references to its earlier activities and affiliations in Russia from its website and other official materials.[42]
Research
The company "applies DL, big data, and genomis for in silico drug discovery" for various conditions.[3] It has sought to develop AI to "identify novel drug targets for untreated diseases", and has pursued dual-purpose therapeutics, "going after a specific disease or several diseases while targeting ageing at the same time".[29]
In 2019, the company in partnership with researchers at the University of Toronto, used AI to design potential new drugs. One was reported to have shown promising initial results when tested in mice.[43][44] Research areas for therapeutics have included fibrosis, immunology, oncology and the central nervous system.[24] To demonstrate the capacity of their proprietary AI platforms, the company published two projects on identifying therapeutic targets for ageing[45] and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis[46] in 29 March and 28 June 2022, respectively.[45][46]
↑Kadurin A, Nikolenko S, Khrabrov K, Aliper A, Zhavoronkov A (September 2017). "druGAN: An Advanced Generative Adversarial Autoencoder Model for de Novo Generation of New Molecules with Desired Molecular Properties in Silico". Molecular Pharmaceutics. 14 (9): 3098–3104. doi:10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.7b00346. PMID28703000.
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