Dublin start-up backed by senior tech and pharma executives.
Dublin-based biotech startup Meta-Flux has raised $2m in seed funding to expand its AI-powered decision-support platform aimed at improving preclinical drug development.
The funding round includes participation from senior executives at Pfizer, Merck, and Gilead Sciences, as well as technology leaders from Google, Amazon, and Indeed.
“Our goal isn’t just to get more drugs to market, but to make sure the ones that do actually help the right people”
Meta-Flux, founded by Lee Sherlock and Brendan Martin, is developing a platform that applies biological reasoning to artificial intelligence, integrating data from genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways to help researchers better understand how biological systems function.
The AI future of pharma
The company’s goal is to reduce early-stage drug failure rates by guiding developers toward more targeted and effective applications.
“Bringing a new drug to market is slow, expensive, and uncertain. Too often, promising drugs fail because researchers can’t clearly predict how they’ll behave,” said Sherlock, Meta-Flux’s chief executive. “Our goal isn’t just to get more drugs to market, but to make sure the ones that do actually help the right people.”
Fernando Ferrer, a data engineering leader and investor in Meta-Flux, said the company’s platform “gives scientists a way to cut through the noise and accelerate the path from development to decision.”
A senior director in R&D at Gilead Sciences, also an investor, commented: “Over the next 12 to 18 months, I expect AI to transform preclinical research, accelerate discovery, improve prediction accuracy, and reduce costs. The key for big pharma is identifying valuable AI partners in an increasingly crowded space, those who marry deep biological insight with advanced modeling to address focused, high-impact questions. Meta-Flux exemplifies this biology-first approach.”
The company recently completed accelerator programs including Techstars Chicago (powered by J.P. Morgan), MassBio DRIVE in Boston, and the NDRC Accelerator at Dogpatch Labs in Dublin. It is now expanding its team to support pharmaceutical collaborations across Europe and the United States.
Meta-Flux describes its platform as an “AI biologist,” designed to help scientists test hypotheses, identify therapeutic pathways, and make faster go/no-go decisions. By converting complex datasets into actionable insights, the company aims to reduce wasted effort and accelerate the development of new treatments.
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
-
For support in challenging times, click here
-
Listen to the ThinkBusiness Podcast for business insights and inspiration. All episodes are here. You can also listen to the Podcast on:
-
Spotify
-
SoundCloud
-
Apple
