DeepCyte, a techbio company developing AI-driven toxicology tools for drug discovery, announced its launch with $1.5 million in seed funding, introducing two solutions designed to detect, predict, and explain drug toxicity in human cells at single-cell resolution.
Addressing Drug Toxicity Challenges
Drug toxicity remains a major cause of clinical trial failure and post-market withdrawals, costing the industry billions. Traditional approaches such as animal testing and bulk assays often fail to capture human-specific responses and overlook cellular heterogeneity. Increasing regulatory focus from the FDA and EMA on human-relevant testing is accelerating demand for advanced predictive technologies.
“The mission is to reveal and prevent toxicity in every cell, at scale, before drugs reach patients,” said Theodore Alexandrov, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder. “By combining advances in AI and single-cell biology, we predict not only whether a drug is toxic, but also why.”
MetaCore Platform for Single-Cell Insights
MetaCore, the company’s high-throughput single-cell metabolomics platform, leverages laser-based sampling and mass spectrometry to generate detailed molecular profiles. The platform captures cellular-level responses and produces large-scale, AI-ready datasets with minimal preparation and reduced cost, enabling deeper insights into drug effects.
DeeImmuno AI for Toxicity Prediction
DeeImmuno, the first AI solution built on MetaCore data, applies machine learning to predict toxicity classes, identify biomarkers, and uncover underlying molecular mechanisms. Tested on 100 drugs, the system achieved 94% accuracy in identifying 17 toxicity mechanisms, marking a significant improvement over conventional methods.
Experienced Leadership and Backing
DeepCyte brings together expertise in pharmacology, AI, and life sciences. CEO Theodore Alexandrov previously developed widely used research software and co-founded SCiLS GmbH, later acquired by Bruker. The seed round was backed by medtech executive Carl J. G. Evertsz, who will serve as Board Chair.