Animol Discovery, Inc. Announces Series B Financing of $34.0 million to Advance Its Pipeline of Novel Veterinary Pharmaceuticals
28.7.2022 14:07:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Animol Discovery, Inc., a pioneer in veterinary pharmaceutical discovery, today announced it has raised $34.0 million in Series B financing. The investment was led by Novalis Lifesciences, with participation from Finistere Ventures and existing investor Anterra Capital. The proceeds allow the company to expand and advance its pipeline of novel active pharmaceutical ingredients through clinical development and further enhance its cutting-edge drug discovery platform.
The $40Bn animal health industry continues to demand novel medicines to treat infectious and chronic diseases in companion and production animals. Recent successes, such as Apoquel™ from Zoetis and Nexguard™ from Boehringer Ingelheim, demonstrate the potential to build towards blockbuster franchises in the sector with novel pharmaceutical products.
“Pet parents and livestock farmers continue to demand novel veterinary pharmaceuticals that can protect animals against diseases and improve quality of life,” said Andrew Plant PhD, chief executive officer, Animol Discovery. “Despite this strong demand, innovation is lagging. At Animol, we seek to address this innovation gap by leveraging the most advanced tools from human pharma to bring forward a wealth of new medicines that can benefit animals and the people who care for them.”
Founded in 2020 and incubated by Anterra Capital, Animol is pioneering the use of DNA Encoded Library (DEL) drug discovery technology coupled with powerful machine learning approaches to enable the rapid discovery of novel veterinary medicines.
“We have built Animol on the same cutting edge discovery techniques that we are using to disrupt drug discovery in human pharma (ZebiAI - acquired by Relay Therapeutics) and crop protection (Enko Chem),” said Philip Austin, Managing Partner at Anterra Capital. “Translating these tools to the massive opportunity available in veterinary pharma was the next obvious step and we are already seeing their use successfully build into a rich pipeline of promising compounds.”
Animol also announced that Marijn Dekkers PhD, founder & chairman of Novalis LifeSciences LLC will join the Board of Directors. Dr. Dekkers formerly served as the CEO of Bayer AG, and as the CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. At Bayer he oversaw one of the largest global animal health companies.
“Most current medicines in the $40B veterinary pharma market are derived from drugs that have been originally developed for humans. There is of course nothing wrong with that, but there are many animal-specific diseases that require a targeted effort. I like Animol Discovery’s approach to use its breakthrough drug discovery platform to specifically address significant unmet needs in animals. I am looking forward to working with the team to optimize the opportunity ahead,” said Dr. Dekkers.
“It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome Marijn Dekkers to our Board of Directors. Dr. Dekkers is an exceptional industry leader with a track record of turning innovation into successful businesses across the spectrum of life sciences, including in animal health,” said Andrew Plant PhD, chief executive officer, Animol Discovery. “He is an excellent addition to our team of experienced industry leaders.”
“I am also delighted to bring Doug Hutchens on board as chief scientific officer. Dr. Hutchens brings a wealth of industry experience in animal health research and product development; having someone who has also served as Chief Veterinary Officer within a major animal health company brings huge value to our expanding team,” added Dr. Plant.
“I am thrilled by the prospect of joining Animol’s dynamic and experienced team as chief scientific officer,” said Doug Hutchens, DVM, PhD. “The company’s ability to interrogate protein targets with billions of DNA-tagged molecules and, using DNA sequencing, identify selective inhibitors from numerous diverse chemical families is game changing in animal health drug discovery. Leveraging these data with proprietary, highly predictive machine learning algorithms, is enabling the identification of novel drug-like compounds in a matter of weeks from the initial DEL screen. This technology platform greatly expands the opportunities, significantly increases the probability, and accelerates the timeline in developing new classes of therapeutic molecules.”
About Animol
Animol is a pioneer in using state of the art drug discovery technology to discover small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients to transform standards of care in veterinary medicine. The company is reducing the time and cost to discover novel active ingredients utilizing DNA-encoded libraries, machine learning/AI and structure-based design.
Animol is a private company based in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information see www.Animol-discovery.com
About Novalis LifeSciences LLC
Novalis LifeSciences LLC is an investment and advisory firm for the Life Science industry that was founded in 2017 by Marijn E. Dekkers. With a team of experienced operating executives from the Life Science industry, Novalis funds and advises visionary Life Science entrepreneurs. In addition to making financial investments, Novalis provides strategic and operational advice to portfolio companies that are at a critical growth stage in their development. For more information, visit www.novalislifesciences.com
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220728005186/en/
Contact information
Dr. Andrew Plant
CEO
Animol Discovery, Inc.
andrew.plant@animol-discovery.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
2PointZero Group Completes Majority Acquisition in Italy-Based ISEM Packaging Group for AED 704 Million5.3.2026 23:02:00 EET | Press release
2PointZero Group PJSC (ADX: 2PointZero), a next-generation investment powerhouse focused on energy and consumer sectors, announced today that it has formally completed the transaction to acquire a majority position in ISEM, a leading European packaging group serving beauty, fashion, luxury, nutraceuticals and more, for AED 704 million through a combination of secondary and primary capital earmarked to accelerate organic and inorganic growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260305800523/en/ 2PointZero Group completes majority acquisition in Italy-based ISEM Packaging Group for AED 704 million (Photo: AETOSWire) 2PointZero Group now holds 60.8% of ISEM, while Peninsula Capital and minority investors own the remaining 39.2%. This marks the start of a strategic partnership between 2PointZero and Peninsula. Together, the partners will reinforce ISEM’s leadership position with a focus on category and geographic expa
Xsolla Announces Reseller Program to Help Game Developers Unlock New Revenue Streams in Local Markets5.3.2026 19:00:00 EET | Press release
Xsolla, a leading global video game commerce company, today announced the Xsolla Reseller Program, a new product designed to help game developers scale and capture untapped revenue in local markets with no development needed. The program launches with a curated cohort of resellers and distributors in Southeast Asia and Latin America, with expansion into additional regions throughout 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260305047070/en/ Graphic: Xsolla As game developers pursue global growth, they face a fundamental infrastructure challenge: billions of dollars in revenue remain untapped in emerging, cash-dependent economies, such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa, where players purchase digital content through local distribution partners. In mature digital economies, developers seek to extend their reach and distribute digital inventory at scale through more partners and chan
Xsolla Agency Launches to Empower Creators Across Entertainment-Based Intellectual Property5.3.2026 17:23:00 EET | Press release
Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, today launched Xsolla Agency, a comprehensive service connecting game developers with premium entertainment-based intellectual property (IP). The integrated offering addresses critical challenges for game creators: access to world-class IP, global monetization capabilities, and the operational infrastructure needed to build sustainable businesses. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260305044119/en/ Graphic: Xsolla Xsolla Agency simplifies access to entertainment-based licenses through expert-led negotiations and industry relationships, offering affordable, monetization-focused deals structured for maximum ROI. Strategic IP partnerships increase discoverability, reduce user acquisition costs, and drive higher player spend through impactful LiveOps events and promotional campaigns. The service is backed by the same commerce infrastructure powering 1,500+ game developers
Onego Bio and Sigma Foods Enter Collaboration to Strengthen Egg Protein Innovation and Supply Resilience5.3.2026 17:00:00 EET | Press release
Onego Bio, a food ingredient company producing non-animal egg protein, and Sigma Foods ("SIGMA"), a leading multinational food company, have entered into a collaboration agreement to evaluate the functionality and commercial potential of Bioalbumen®, a non-animal egg protein made with using precision fermentation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260305756400/en/ The partnership focuses on advancing ingredient innovation while addressing urgent challenges in today’s egg supply chain—including volatility, rising prices, and avian flu-related disruptions. Bioalbumen® offers a shelf-stable, animal-free alternative that delivers the same functional, nutritional, and sensory performance as traditional eggs, while helping safeguard supply continuity for food manufacturers. Additionally, this collaboration supports Sigma’s commitment to offering safe, nutritious, and high-quality food, while driving science-based inno
Vertex to Present New Data on JOURNAVX ® That Demonstrates Effective Pain Management Following Aesthetic and Reconstructive Procedures5.3.2026 17:00:00 EET | Press release
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced data from a Phase 4 study of JOURNAVX® (suzetrigine), a prescription non-opioid pain signal inhibitor for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain, in adults, that demonstrated effective pain management and enabled opioid-free recovery after a broad range of plastic surgical procedures. These data showed that the majority of patients (90.9%) in the study were opioid free through the end of treatment (up to 14 days), demonstrating the potential for JOURNAVX as a core element of opioid-free multimodal treatment for moderate-to-severe acute pain after aesthetic and reconstructive procedures. In contrast, the literature shows opioid-free rates of less than 10% with multimodal treatment without JOURNAVX. These data will be presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) PainConnect 2026 meeting, March 5-8, 2026, in Salt Lake City, UT. This Phase 4 open-label, multicenter, single-arm study evaluated JOURNAVX w
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom