Healx secured $47M in Series C funding and revealed it obtained FDA clearance for a Phase 2 clinical trial

Healx, a biotech company that describes itself as "an AI-enabled, clinical-stage biotech company specializing in rare diseases", announced it had raised $47 million in a Series C round co-led by R42 Group and Atomico, with the participation of existing and new investors. The Series C round brings Healx's total raised funding to approximately $110 million.

Healx was founded by Tim Guilliams Ph.D., a biochemical engineer and tech entrepreneur, and Viagra co-inventor David Brown Ph.D., also former global head of drug discovery at Roche. To power its drug discovery pipeline, Healx leverages its AI platform Healnet, which incorporates generative AI technologies to identify chemical and biological entities that are potential candidates to become treatments for rare diseases.

In addition to sharing the news of its new investment, Healx is also celebrating a major milestone in its journey, as it recently received clearance from the FDA to start a Phase 2 clinical trial of its experimental drug HLX-1502 focused on treating adults with a rare genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1), and inoperable plexiform neurofibroma, one of NF1's common manifestations. NF1 affects approximately 1 in 2,500 individuals, causing a predisposition to develop several benign and malignant tumors, including plexiform neurofibromas and cutaneous neurofibromas. HLX-1502, an oral tablet with a unique mechanism of action, has received Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the FDA, highlighting its potential to improve patients' lives.

In addition to advancing its drug discovery pipeline, Healx will continue building the Healnet platform by developing proprietary "chemically-aware" LLMs as the company explores how these specialized models can result in improved target identification and a better understanding of rare disease biology.