AI Assists in the R&D of New Oral Small Molecule Drugs, "Zhiweituo" Secures Tens of Millions in Seed Round Financing | Exclusive Report by 36Kr
36Kr has learned that Beijing Riltide Medicines Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Riltide Medicines") has completed a seed - round financing of tens of millions of RMB. This round of financing was led by New Leaf Capital, with Qingtan Investment participating as a follow - on investor. The raised funds will be mainly used to advance the pre - clinical R & D of the company's core pipelines and to build and improve the AI interactive molecular design platform.
Riltide Medicines was founded in 2024 and focuses on the AI - driven pharmaceutical track. It is mainly engaged in the R & D of innovative oral small - molecule drugs, with a core layout in the fields of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and inflammatory bowel disease. Long Wei, the founder and CEO, has nearly 20 years of experience in drug R & D and management in the pharmaceutical industry. Before starting his business, he served as the Executive Vice President of Pre - clinical R & D at Jiaxinkang Pharmaceutical Group (HK:01167) and the head of the Chemistry Department at Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (SZ:300558).
In the past two years, with the progress of mainstream AGI technology, AI - driven drug R & D is gradually moving from concept verification to industrial implementation. AI - generated molecules are no longer confined to the early research stage but are starting to enter project systems with real commercial value.
Long Wei believes that currently, an important trend in the field of AI - driven pharmaceuticals is "the gradual balance between the maturity of technology and the market's expected perception." "The progress of generative artificial intelligence enables AI to adapt to more pharmaceutical application scenarios, and the extensive application needs further promote the optimization of technology. This virtuous cycle is accelerating AI's penetration into the industry. Every link in the innovative drug industry chain now needs to answer how to use AI technology and how to upgrade existing models."
Specifically for Riltide Medicines, the company's self - developed EnCore AI interactive design platform focuses on accelerating the discovery of lead compounds (Hits) and integrates its in - house wet - lab platform to improve the efficiency of molecular optimization. Especially in the field of autoimmune diseases, although antibody drugs are the main treatment means, oral small - molecule drugs have advantages such as convenient administration, high safety, and low production cost, and have "gradually become an important direction for the R & D of new autoimmune drugs in the future."
"We have rich experience in the R & D of small - molecule drugs. In the future, we will continuously combine AI technology with medicinal chemistry and focus on tackling those targets that were previously considered 'undruggable'." It is understood that currently, Riltide Medicines has launched the development of multiple pre - clinical pipelines.
Investors' Views:
New Leaf Capital said that it is very optimistic about Riltide Medicines' strategic direction and innovation ability in developing oral small - molecule drugs in the field of autoimmune diseases. The company's team not only has in - depth industry experience and successful "end - to - end" full - chain cases but also is innovative and can fully leverage the enabling role of artificial intelligence in new drug design to explore product projects with global competitive potential. It looks forward to the company making solid progress and steady breakthroughs in R & D in the next few years.
Qingtan Investment said that oral drugs for autoimmune diseases is a field with huge potential demand. It believes that Riltide Medicines can blaze a unique trail in AI - driven drug R & D and promote the accelerated implementation of innovative therapies for oral autoimmune diseases.