Kevin Weil’s Warp Sciences Raises $215 Million for AI Drug Research

Kevin Weil, formerly the AI-for-science leader at OpenAI, is launching Warp Sciences with $215 million to automate molecule testing in the United States and offer an alternative to work handled by Chinese firms.

Lightspeed Venture Partners led the financing, with IVP, Premji Invest and Lux Capital also participating. The investment values Warp at $865 million after the financing. Angel backers include executives and founders from OpenAI, Coinbase, Palantir and LinkedIn.

Researchers first identify promising drug candidates. Warp plans to automate a later stage by producing and testing large batches of modified versions of a molecule, potentially numbering in the hundreds or thousands. The goal is to find versions with better potential effectiveness and fewer harmful side effects.

The startup plans to combine robotics with an automated laboratory and use experimental results to train its AI models. Chinese companies, including WuXi AppTec, have traditionally handled this kind of testing. Warp aims to bring the work to the United States as U.S.-China tensions and pharmaceutical companies’ intellectual property concerns increase demand for alternatives.