Bioptimus Launches AI Startup for Biotechnology

Executives from Owkin, a French AI drug discovery unicorn, have launched a new startup, Bioptimus, to develop an LLM for biotechnology. The company aims to raise a €20m seed round and has secured funding above that target. Bioptimus is led by Owkin's chief R&D officer and ex-Google researcher Jean-Philippe Vert, along with senior Owkin executives David Cahané and Eric Durand. The company plans to focus on simplifying complex biomedical data for AI technologies, with potential applications in other industries. Owkin, a partner in providing data for Bioptimus’s LLM, is HQ'd in Paris and the US.