Earendil Labs announced on Mar. 23 that it has raised $787 million in a private placement to further develop its artificial intelligence-driven platform and advance antibodies and biologic therapies. The funding round was backed by Sanofi, the Biotech Development Fund—an initiative by Pfizer and Hillhouse—as well as Dimension Capital, DST Global, and Luminous Ventures.
The investment is intended to accelerate Earendil’s work in using machine learning throughout the research and development process for biologics. According to the company’s announcement, its AI engine has already produced more than 40 programs, including an anti-TL1A antibody that is expected to enter Phase 2 trials. Earendil plans multiple investigational new drug filings for this asset in 2026 and 2027.
Sanofi has previously invested in Earendil's technology. In April 2025, Sanofi agreed to pay $125 million upfront with up to $1.72 billion in milestone payments for exclusive global licenses to two bispecific antibodies targeting autoimmune and inflammatory bowel diseases. This agreement also includes tiered royalties on product sales ranging from high-single digits to low-double digits. In January of this year, Sanofi committed up to $160 million in upfront and near-term payments plus potentially $2.56 billion more in milestones under a second deal that gives access to additional autoimmune and inflammatory disease programs generated from Earendil’s AI platform.
"Earendil Labs stands out for its ability to translate AI innovation into real, scalable R&D execution," Zavain Dar, founding managing partner at Dimension Capital, said in the company's statement on Friday. "The team has shown that AI can consistently generate high-quality biologics programs and advance them toward the clinic."
Artificial intelligence continues gaining ground across biopharma research efforts globally. Earlier this month, Generate:Biomedicines debuted on Nasdaq after closing a $425 million initial public offering—the largest since last year—focusing on generative biology through machine learning approaches designed "to instantly generate medicines" against challenging diseases.
“Generative AI is the story of the day,” Generate CEO Mike Nally told BioSpace at the time. “When you think about where generative AI is going to have the greatest impact on humanity, it may be within biology and drug discovery.”
As pharmaceutical companies continue investing heavily into artificial intelligence applications beyond just drug discovery—including firms like Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca—the field is expected to see further growth as these technologies mature.
