Katakem’s ‘robotic chef’ hastens drug improvement with dependable chemistry • TechCrunch

Natural chemist Manuela Oliverio was engaged on a brand new drug when he observed that check outcomes on mice weren’t constant, as a result of the molecule being administered was all the time totally different relying on the chemist who produced it. It occurred to him that automation and robotics may make the drug improvement course of extra predictable, and so he based Katakem, one of many startups within the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 200.

With Katakem, Oliverio goals to develop what he calls a “robotic chef” for chemists — a tool that makes chemical reactions extra constantly reproducible whereas accelerating the experimental course of. He claims that the present prototype, dubbed OnePot, can acquire knowledge about chemical processes 150 instances each second and automate repetitive, mundane duties like heating, cooling and mixing totally different molecules.

“The manufacturing of a chemical product is strictly regulated and standardized. [But] the event section between discovery and manufacturing continues to be carried out manually and no important knowledge is extracted,” Oliverio advised TechCrunch in an interview. “By way of knowledge, we can assist firms develop new life-saving medication quicker and, in fact, this implies larger revenues and higher margins for them … Knowledge [from OnePot] is dependable, clear and instantly usable.”

To Oliverio’s level, drug improvement right now is a prolonged and costly endeavor. Solely about 12% of medicine coming into scientific trials are in the end authorized for introduction by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration. And estimates of the common R&D value per drug vary from lower than $1 billion to over $2 billion, with errors and errors including to the worth tag.

Katakem developed OnePot over the course of three years, designing each the mechanical and electrical elements in-house.  The corporate’s searching for chemists to beta check the system, notably these in company and tutorial settings, to gather knowledge that it plans to make use of to coach an algorithm that may advocate “quicker and extra sustainable” methods to develop molecules.

Given the dimensions of the issue — and addressable market — it’s not stunning that Katakem has competitors. Automata can also be making a robotic to deal with fundamental lab duties, and it just lately raised $50 million to take action. There’s Kebotix, a startup growing AI and robotics instruments to expedite the invention of chemical substances, and Synthetic, which sells a lab automation platform geared toward life sciences R&D.

However whereas Katakem has the twin challenges of proving its expertise works and overcoming rivals, Oliverio isn’t involved. Based mostly on present commitments, he expects Katakem’s annual recurring income to hit $350,000 by the tip of the 12 months and $3 million by the tip of 2023. Presumably, these projections assume Katakem finds success with its early clients and demonstrates that OnePot does all the corporate says it could actually do.

“As our purchasers — chemical firms — are key to economies, we aren’t topic to excessive variability in demand,” Oliverio mentioned. “The robotic is able to be commercialized.”

To this point, Calabria, Italy-based Katakem has raised €1.3 million ($1.27 million) in capital from undisclosed seed buyers, in keeping with Crunchbase knowledge.