Anew Labs raises $290M and unveils AnewDDE as AI pharma routes converge on Anthropic and Isomorphic
机器之心 · wechat · 2026-09-17
Anew Labs, a low-profile AI drug discovery team of 50 formed in 2021, raised $290M in its first post-spinout round (Sequoia China, Hillhouse, IDG) and released its AnewDDE technical report.
- AnewFold: 76.2% success on FoldBench antibody-antigen prediction (IsoDDE: 75.6%), 77.4% on protein-ligand; 71.8% joint success on molecular glue ternary cases
- Nanobody wet-lab loop: from 3,092 candidates, 50 tested in round one yielded 7 clones with KD<400nM; round two produced 16 single-digit-nanomolar clones from 100 — 10.7% strong-binder rate overall (not directly comparable to Claude's 22-50% minibinder hit rates, which target a different, less drug-like modality)
- AnewMind: a 100B-parameter fully post-trained vertical LLM ranking first in cyclic peptide permeability, second in antibody developability, third overall on PharmBench
- PharmBench: 50 real R&D scenarios, 200 questions testing genuine pharma judgment with progressive evidence disclosure
The piece frames a converging race: Anthropic organizing bio experiments, Isomorphic hiring LLM talent, and vertical players betting that proprietary wet-lab feedback loops are their durable moat.
Related event: ByteDance Spins Off AI Drug Discovery Unit Anew Labs with $290M Raise(3 posts)→
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