Ternary secures funding to scale AI drug platform

A London-based biotech start-up is accelerating its growth after securing investment to advance artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery technology.

Ternary Therapeutics has raised £3.6 million in seed funding to scale its platform designed to develop a new class of medicines known as molecular glues. 

The round was led by European venture firm daphni, with support from Pace Ventures, the i&i Biotech Fund and the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund.

Founded in 2024, Ternary Therapeutics is developing technology that combines machine learning, molecular modelling and laboratory testing to design drugs capable of targeting proteins traditionally considered difficult to treat.

Molecular glues enable interactions between proteins, offering a potential route to expand the number of drug targets beyond the reach of conventional medicines.

Ternary’s platform aims to make this discovery process more systematic, using AI models to predict protein behaviour and identify potential drug candidates, which are then tested and refined through laboratory feedback.

The business has already built a pipeline of early-stage programmes focused on inflammatory and neuroinflammatory diseases, alongside research collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech partners.

Bosses say the funding will support the expansion of Ternary’s computational and laboratory teams and help advance its lead programmes towards preclinical development.

Dr Chris Tame, co-founder and chief executive of Ternary Therapeutics, said: “Molecular glues have delivered some of the most exciting breakthroughs in drug discovery over the past decade, but historically they’ve been discovered largely by chance rather than through a systematic process.

“Our platform is designed to change that by combining physics-informed AI with rapid experimental validation to engineer these molecules intentionally and at scale. 

“That allows us to approach drug discovery more like an engineering problem than a process of trial and error.

“This investment enables us to expand the platform, grow our team and accelerate programmes towards the clinic, while building the foundations for long-term partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.”

Cristian Pinto, investor at daphni, added: “Designing molecular glues predictably is one of the hardest problems in drug discovery. 

“Ternary has built a disciplined platform that integrates machine learning, physics and experimental biology to tackle that challenge.”

Oliver Sexton, investment director at UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital, added: “Ternary’s approach to drug design is enabled by its compute power. 

“The combination of expanding knowledge of biology and recent developments in AI allow it to understand massive complexity and the resulting molecular glue drug candidates target areas that have historically been considered out of reach. 

“This is a world class example of huge ambition with significant potential for patient benefit that UKI2S is delighted to back.”

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