OpenAI researcher founds $2 billion pharmaceutical startup

Miles Wang, a talented researcher at OpenAI, a leader in the world of AI, has decided to turn a new page in his career. He is leaving the creators of ChatGPT to found a new startup aimed at revolutionizing the medical and pharmaceutical industries. The project specializes in discovering new drugs using AI. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reports .

According to TechCrunch, Miles Wang is currently in negotiations to raise approximately $200 million for his new company. Notably, this startup, which has not yet fully launched, is already valued by investors at $2 billion. This demonstrates the high level of confidence in the potential of AI in the life sciences sector.

Lightspeed Venture Partners is expected to lead the negotiations. Although Wang has denied some details regarding financial figures and the company's description, industry experts speculate that several other top researchers from OpenAI will join this new team. This trend confirms that it is becoming common for former OpenAI employees to launch independent projects.

The AI race in medicine

The main goal of the startup founded by Wang is to identify new properties of existing drugs and give a "second life" to preparations that previously failed clinical trials. This strategy is considered much more efficient and cost-effective than creating new drugs from scratch. Using drugs already deemed safe by the FDA saves significant time and money.

Competition in this field is currently very strong. For example, the startup Chai Discovery recently raised $400 million at a $3.8 billion valuation. Additionally, Isomorphic Labs, which spun off from Google DeepMind, completed a $2.1 billion funding round in May. Miles Wang's project will strive to find its place alongside such giants.

As for Miles Wang himself, he dropped out of Harvard University in 2024 to join the OpenAI team. There, he worked on research exploring the potential of AI models to accelerate scientific discovery. It is noteworthy that today, venture investors are not afraid to invest heavily in young founders who lack a university degree but possess high technological potential.

The success of this startup could potentially shorten the process of finding effective treatments for serious diseases from decades to just a few years. For developing countries, such technologies could create opportunities for access to affordable and effective medicines in the future.