University of Toronto
University of Toronto
04/27/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/27/2026 09:34
AI startup founded by U of T alumni to revive failed drug candidates: The Globe and Mail
Published: April 27, 2026
A startup founded by University of Toronto alumni has won Silicon Valley buy-in for its novel approach to AI-assisted drug development - resurrecting therapies the pharma industry had given up on, the Globe and Mail reports.
After three years operating in "stealth mode," Biossil recently revealed the scope of its work to the Globe: a portfolio of 10 drug candidates, with two in advanced clinical trials and three more gearing up for market approval. "We've very quietly become the most advanced drug developer of this AI era, bar none," Biossil co-founder and CEO Anthony Mouchantaf, an alumnus and adjunct professor in U of T's Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, told the newspaper.
Rather than using AI to design new molecules from scratch, Mouchantaf and fellow co-founder Alexander Mosa - a trained internist who earned his PhD in molecular virology from the department of cell and systems biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science - are using large language models to sift through the scrap heap of failed clinical trials for overlooked cures.
The venture has raised about US$70 million to date, BetaKit reports, counting OpenAI and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund among its backers.
Read more in the Globe and Mail
Read more in BetaKit
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