Atlas Bio
A Basel techbio company running virtual clinical trials on patient profiles built from human transcriptomic data.
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Podcast Episode
🎙️ Deep Dive
Machenta, Atlas Bio, Agora Labs — $40M for robots, $10M for virtual trials and €4.3M for clinical data — Daily News October 27, 2026
Listen to the episodeAbout Atlas Bio
Founded in 2024 by Simon Romanski (CEO) and Sebastian Bayer (CTO), both formerly leading language-model research at Google, Atlas Bio is based in Basel and has built a foundation model trained on roughly 2 million RNA readouts from human tissue. The platform runs in silico trials comparing predicted patient responses across treatments and indications, returning a full transcriptomic profile for each virtual patient, without requiring asset-specific efficacy data or molecular structure; a study takes 8–12 weeks. Scientific work is led by Dominik Hartl (CSO), with Malcolm Fogarty (CCO). The company works with a top-10 global pharmaceutical company. On October 27, 2026 it emerged from stealth with a $10 million seed round led by Creandum and disclosed an earlier pre-seed led by First Momentum Ventures and LEA Partners, for a total of $12.5 million. Its simulations still have to prove prospective agreement with real clinical outcomes.
The Story
Founded in 2024 by Simon Romanski, educated at KIT, EPFL and Stanford, and Sebastian Bayer, formerly a language-model research lead at Google.
How Atlas Bio works
Business Model
B2B projects with pharma and biotech companies for clinical-development decisions; pricing undisclosed.
Products & Services
Key Products
- Sperimentazioni cliniche in silico
Core Use Cases
- Therapeutic indication selection
- Clinical-trial simulation before Phase II
- Business development and drug lifecycle strategy
Market & Clients
Key Customers
Pharma and biotech companies, including a top-10 global pharmaceutical company.
Geographic Presence
How Atlas Bio competes
Competitive Advantages
- Model trained on measured human transcriptomic data
- No need for asset efficacy data or molecular structure
- Full transcriptomic profile for each virtual patient
How Atlas Bio grows
Growth Strategy
Expand scientific and commercial teams, validate the platform and win new pharma customers.
Distribution Model
Direct projects with pharma and biotech companies.
Moat (Defensibility)
Human-biology dataset and modelling pipeline, plus combined AI and drug-development expertise.
Regulatory Context
Simulations can support development decisions but do not automatically replace studies required by regulators.
Key Risks
- Clinical validation still limited
- Case-by-case regulatory acceptance
- Risk of overstating trial replacement
Strategic Insights
- Model value depends on prospective validation, not only dataset size.
Funding & Investors
Total Funding
Funding Rounds
- - Pre-seed: $2,5M
Lead: First Momentum Ventures, LEA Partners - 2026 - Seed: $10M
Lead: Creandum
Key Investors
Founding Team
Founders
Key Executives
- Dominik Hartl - CSO
- Malcolm Fogarty - CCO
Key Metrics
Lessons from Atlas Bio
- In AI-driven biotech, commercial credibility grows with scientific and regulatory evidence.
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