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
Speech Processing Solutions Launches Philips SpeechLive Health, an AI Assistant Built for Modern Clinical Documentation17.3.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Speech Processing Solutions, the global leader in professional dictation and speech solutions sold under the Philips brand, today announced the upcoming April 2026 launch of Philips SpeechLive Health AI Assistant, an AI-powered clinical documentation assistant designed for healthcare professionals across multiple care settings. This solution reduces administrative burden, streamlines documentation, and improves provider and patient experiences. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317743584/en/ Philips SpeechLive Health AI Assistant turns clinical conversations into structured documentation, helping reduce administrative workload and create more time for patient care. Purpose-built for clinical documentation workflows Clinical workload remains a major challenge across healthcare. In the U.S., AMIA’s 2024 TrendBurden survey found that 77% of healthcare professionals said documentation makes them work late or at h
Coherent Solutions Releases Research on AI-driven Fraud Prevention in Banking and Finance and the Best AI Models for Banks17.3.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Coherent Solutions has released a Future of Finance research illustrating how AI is advancing fraud detection in financial services. The research offers financial institutions a strategic framework to address rising and more sophisticated fraud techniques with adaptive, human-in-the-loop AI systems, based on the firm’s extensive experience in AI engineering. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317526196/en/ Coherent Solutions releases research on AI-driven fraud prevention. This white paper addresses the modern threat of transaction fraud, which is becoming faster and smarter while conventional rule-based systems lag, leaving financial institutions exposed. Banks, credit lenders, and financial institutions that adopt AI and machine learning can reduce fraud losses by up to 50% and detect anomalies in real time. When implemented with proper governance and human oversight, AI systems also make audits smoother and
The Swoosh Meets the ‘b’: Beats and Nike Unveil Historic First-Ever Collaboration for Powerbeats Pro 217.3.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Today, Beats and Nike announced the first hardware collaboration in their shared history: Powerbeats Pro 2 – Nike Special Edition. In a landmark design shift, Beats has—for the first time—shared its iconic earbud real estate with a partner, featuring the Nike Swoosh on the right bud and the signature Beats “b” on the left. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317159868/en/ Powerbeats Pro 2 - Nike Special Edition The limited-edition release marries Nike’s high-energy “Volt” color palette with the industry-leading audio tech of the Powerbeats Pro 2. The result is a performance tool built to bridge the gap between elite sport and street style. The Nike Special Edition arrives in a striking matte black, Volt-speckled charging case. Upon opening, users are greeted by Nike’s “JUST DO IT” mantra printed inside the lid. While the aesthetic is new, the internals are pure power: Pro-Level Sound: Adaptive Active Noise Canc
Moody’s Ratings Becomes First Credit Rating Agency to Bring Independent Credit Analysis to Blockchain Financial Infrastructure17.3.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) today announced that Moody’s Ratings has launched its network-agnostic Token Integration Engine™ (TIE), becoming the first credit rating agency to ingest analytical data and share credit insights on-chain. As an inaugural step, it is the first rating agency to operate a node on the Canton Network. The milestone marks a significant step in Moody’s commitment to digital innovation, intending to enable secure, compliant, and efficient ingestion of data and dissemination of ratings enabled by technology built for integration across platforms. “As financial markets digitize, the need for independent, trusted risk analysis and credit insights does not change,” said Fabian Astic, Managing Director and Global Head of Digital Economy at Moody’s Ratings. “Moody’s Ratings is extending that rigor to digital market infrastructure consistent with global regulatory expectations and our governance, transparency, and compliance practices.” Moody’s Ratings’ TIE serves as
Sub-Q Bionics Announces Licensing Agreement to Advance Lymphedema Care17.3.2026 15:46:00 EET | Press release
Sub‑Q Bionics, a medical device company developing an innovative implantable lymphatic drainage system designed to help patients living with lymphedema better manage their symptoms, today announced a licensing agreement with Mayo Clinic. Through the agreement, Sub-Q Bionics has licensed clinical know-how from Mayo Clinic related to reconstructive and lymphatic surgery. As part of this collaboration, Vahe Fahradyan, M.D., a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with expertise in lymphatic surgery, plans to work with Sub-Q Bionics as a clinical collaborator supporting the company’s ongoing development activities. Lymphedema is a chronic condition caused by impaired lymphatic drainage that can lead to persistent swelling, discomfort, and reduced mobility. It commonly occurs following cancer treatment, particularly among breast cancer survivors. Sub-Q Bionics is developing the world’s first implantable bionic lymphatic drainage system designed to assist with movement of lymphatic fluid and he
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