Isospec Analytics raises $1.9m as it introduces breakthrough technology to rapidly identify unknown molecules at scale

Lausanne, Switzerland – 20 April 2024: When creating new medication, dietary merchandise, or pesticides, it’s important that unknown molecules are recognized appropriately. But correct identification is a prolonged course of and all too typically unsuccessful, main to failed regulatory processes, or worse, client well being being put in peril. Today, Isospec Analytics has raised $1.9M to commercialize new applied sciences for molecular evaluation that rapidly identify unknown molecules in minutes, serving to prescription drugs, diet and agritech corporations develop safer merchandise and enabling researchers to uncover new biomarkers.

Isospec’s $1.9M pre-seed spherical is led by Founderful (previously Wingman Ventures), with further participation from specialised buyers Tiny.vc, one other.vc and Venture Kick.

Isospec was based in 2022 by Ahmed Ben Faleh, Stephan Warnke, and Thomas Rizzo, who partnered collectively to discover how they might redefine the method of molecular evaluation to entry new organic data and allow breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapeutics, and diet. Based on over 20 years of analysis, the founders mixed applied sciences from a number of disciplines – analytical chemistry, photonics, and cryogenic supplies initially designed for house purposes – to construct a software that may generate a brand new knowledge dimension about molecular buildings. This permits for the identification of molecules which had been, till now, unknown.

Today, figuring out an unknown molecule is based totally on mass evaluation, which doesn’t present adequate data. Identifying a by-product or an impurity requires the mixture of excessive sensitivity to detect hint quantities in a pattern, coupled with the power to generate knowledge that may definitively identify the construction of a molecule. Existing instruments lack both one or each of those capabilities. “Unfortunately, mass alone doesn’t uniquely decide the construction of a molecule. Several totally different molecules can have precisely the identical mass, referred to as isomers, however completely totally different properties. For instance, one isomer is perhaps poisonous, whereas one other could also be a life-saving therapeutic,” stated Thomas Rizzo, Professor of Chemistry at EPFL. Definitive molecular identification at the moment requires the mixture of a number of methods and a prolonged course of together with purification and a number of syntheses. Companies creating new merchandise are thus confronted with a dilemma: both spend months figuring out unknowns and delay their go-to-market, or transfer ahead primarily based on guesses and danger failing regulatory necessities and endanger client well being.

In comparability, Isospec’s technology generates distinctive, information-rich metrics that enable for the speedy identification of unknown molecules in minutes as a substitute of months, bringing unprecedented scalability to molecular identification. “By including infrared evaluation straight inside a mass spectrometer, we now have a useful new dimension by which to identify molecules,” provides Professor Thomas Rizzo.

Originating from the Laboratory of Molecular Physical Chemistry (LCPM) at EPFL, Isospec’s breakthrough technology is already getting used within the evaluation of sugars and metabolites throughout the meals and agritech business to perform high quality management and help product R&D. However, the crew believes the actual potential of their technology is within the discovery of latest biomarkers for therapeutics improvement and diagnostics.

“In a human blood pattern, there are 15,000 small organic molecules that may give exact details about an individual’s well being at any given time. However, lower than 5% of those molecules may be recognized. The capability to rapidly identify new molecules means we will now leverage the 95% unknown molecular house to develop remedies to the deadliest illnesses,” stated co-founder and CEO Dr. Ahmed Ben Faleh.

These mixed use circumstances had been compelling for Isospec’s buyers. “Isospec’s worth proposition, which affords early entry to its cutting-edge analysis in biomolecular evaluation as a service, satisfied us of the potential of the technology and the crew,” explains Alex Stöckl, companion at Founderful and board member of Isospec. “Isospec is without doubt one of the first 8 corporations during which we now have invested with our second fund, which goals to attain $120M.”

The crew is at the moment engaged on the scalability of their platform, introducing automation at each step and implementing machine studying instruments for knowledge evaluation and perception technology. “This spherical permits us to construct a software program crew composed of consultants in knowledge engineering,” stated Dr Ahmed Ben Faleh. Against the extremely aggressive backdrop of the sugar and metabolite analytical markets, Isospec is setting its sights on turning into the main supplier of molecular evaluation options and biomarker discovery technology.