Artificial intelligence (AI) has been widely used to discover new drugs, but Singapore-based ChemT Biotechnology is betting the technology can also help solve one of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest challenges: manufacturing them at scale.
The startup said it had secured $4 million in its Seed funding round, anchored by Wavemaker Ventures and SEEDS, to expand its AI-driven platform.
The platform aims to improve biologics manufacturing, a process that ChemT said often hampered by long development timelines, unpredictable yields, and high production costs.
The round brings ChemT’s total funding to $5 million within 18 months, including $1 million in angel investment. Other investors in the seed round include Wavemaker 360 Health, Draper University Ventures, and Temasek Life Sciences Accelerator, per the announcement.
ChemT said it applies AI directly to manufacturing processes, helping pharmaceutical companies better understand and control how cells behave during production.
“Our customers come to us because they are stuck – development timelines stretch for years, processes break when you try to scale them,” said Dr. Ling Wu, co-founder and President of ChemT Biotechnology.
At the centre of the company’s technology is CelMo, an AI-powered “virtual cell” platform trained on proprietary biological sequencing data and validated through laboratory experiments.
The platform, according to ChemT, is designed to simulate how cells respond to manufacturing conditions, genetic modifications, and other stresses, enabling manufacturers to identify ways to improve productivity and scalability.
The fresh capital will be used to expand ChemT’s AI and experimental infrastructure, advance its AI-designed molecular products toward regulatory readiness, and grow its commercial partnerships, according to the announcement.
The company also plans to extend its platform beyond CHO and T cells into stem cells, natural killer cells, and HEK cells, which are used in gene therapy and biologics production.
