What Algen Biotechnologies does

Algen Biotechnologies is a privately held, San Francisco Bay Area-based therapeutic discovery company founded in 2018 that operates an integrated CRISPR gene-modulation and AI foundation model platform to identify causal drug targets by reverse-engineering disease trajectories. The company's core technology stack comprises AlgenCRISPR, a proprietary next-generation gene-modulation system that enables industrial-scale, tunable single-cell perturbation, and AlgenBrain™, a proprietary deep learning foundation model trained on billions of dynamic gene expression changes generated through the company's end-to-end in-house wet-lab capabilities. Together these components allow Algen to map causal RNA signaling pathways linking gene regulation to disease progression and to deliver high-confidence, novel therapeutic targets to pharmaceutical partners.

Algen generates revenue through enterprise B2B partnership agreements with global pharmaceutical companies, structured as licensing and milestone-based arrangements rather than direct product sales. The flagship commercial validation is a multi-target partnership with AstraZeneca announced October 2025 worth up to $555 million in upfront, milestone, and future payments for AI-powered preclinical drug discovery in immunology and chronic inflammatory conditions; AstraZeneca receives exclusive development and commercialization rights to selected targets. Algen's pipeline also includes internal precision-oncology programs AB-1 and AB-2 for advanced solid tumors, alongside the partnered immunology program. Named additional partners include Pfizer (drug discovery) and technology collaborators such as Nvidia (compute infrastructure), with academic and research relationships spanning UC Berkeley, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, UCSF, and NIH.

The company has raised approximately $8.9 million across two disclosed funding rounds—a $3.5 million round in October 2019 (Viking Global Investors, Illumina Accelerator) and a $5.4 million round in August 2021 (Cota Capital, Viking Global Investors, Draper Associates, Sequoia Capital, Rebel Fund, Y Combinator)—and maintains a headcount of 11–50 employees. Scientific credibility is anchored by founding-scientific-advisor Jennifer Doudna, the 2020 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry from whose UC Berkeley lab Algen originated, alongside a leadership team including CEO and co-founder Chun-Hao Huang (MSKCC/Weill Cornell PhD, Lindau Fellow, MIT Innovators Under 35) and CSO Jeff Whitten (former SVP at Turning Point Therapeutics, lead on AUGTYRO and Auxora).

Name

Algen Biotechnologies

Legal name

Algen Biotechnologies

Website

https://algenbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Algen Biotechnologies is a San Francisco-based therapeutic discovery company combining proprietary CRISPR gene-modulation (AlgenCRISPR) with an in-house AI foundation model (AlgenBrain™) to identify causal drug targets for global pharmaceutical partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI-driven drug discovery platform

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

CRISPR & Functional Genomics Screening Platforms (pooled/arrayed screens, perturb-seq) (HLAAAIAG), AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE)

Keywords

• AI drug discovery
• CRISPR gene modulation
• Functional genomics platform
• Preclinical target identification
• Therapeutic discovery

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Partnership and Milestone Payments: Algen generates revenue through strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. Under the AstraZeneca deal, Algen could receive up to $555 million in upfront, milestone, and potential future payments. Partner receives exclusive rights to develop and commercialize therapies against selected targets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Algen Biotechnologies operates a therapeutic drug discovery platform that combines a proprietary next-generation CRISPR gene-modulation system (AlgenCRISPR) with an AI foundation model (AlgenBrain) to reverse-engineer disease trajectories from billions of dynamic gene-expression changes. The company licenses this platform to global pharmaceutical partners for preclinical target identification and drug discovery in immunology and oncology, while also advancing its own internal pipeline candidates (AB-1, AB-2) for advanced solid tumors.

Product overview

Algen Biotechnologies operates as a drug discovery company built on a unified platform combining AlgenCRISPR (proprietary gene-modulation technology) and AlgenBrain (AI-driven functional genomics platform). Together, these technologies enable high-confidence discovery of causal disease biology by reverse-engineering disease trajectories at scale. The platform is disease-agnostic, supporting programs across precision oncology (AB-1, AB-2 for advanced solid tumors) and immunology (inflammation). Partnerships with AstraZeneca leverage the platform for preclinical drug discovery in immunology, with potential payments up to $555 million.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AlgenCRISPR: Proprietary, next-generation CRISPR gene-modulation system offering robust, fine-tuned and precise gene modulation to deconvolute complex biology.
• AlgenBrain

Products and services

• AlgenBrain AI-driven functional genomics platform that reverse-engineers disease trajectories using proprietary CRISPR gene modulation data and deep learning models built on billions of dynamic gene expression changes throughout disease progression. Powers preclinical drug discovery for pharmaceutical partners in immunology and precision oncology.
• AlgenCRISPR Proprietary next-generation CRISPR gene-modulation system offering robust, fine-tuned, and precise gene modulation to deconvolute complex biology. Enables industrial-scale single-cell gene modulation for identifying causal signaling pathways and therapeutic intervention points, powering the AlgenBrain platform.
• AB-1 Algen's internal precision oncology pipeline candidate targeting advanced solid tumors, developed using the AlgenCRISPR + AlgenBrain platform.
• AB-2 Algen's internal precision oncology pipeline candidate targeting advanced solid tumors, developed using the AlgenCRISPR + AlgenBrain platform.
• Immunology Program Algen's drug discovery program in immunology and inflammation, partnered with AstraZeneca for chronic inflammatory conditions as part of a multi-target deal worth up to $555 million.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% failure rate in drug discovery that Algen's approach aims to address

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• AstraZenecaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 October 2025Multi-target partnership leveraging AlgenBrain™ AI-driven functional genomics platform for preclinical drug discovery in immunology. AstraZeneca receives exclusive rights to develop and commercialize therapies against selected targets. Algen could receive up to $555 million in upfront, milestone, and potential future payments. Collaboration aims to uncover novel therapeutic targets for chronic inflammatory conditions.
• PfizercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDrug discovery partner listed on the technology page alongside other partners including Nvidia, Berkeley, MSKCC, UCSF, and NIH.
• NvidiacoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner providing computational infrastructure for AI/ML operations supporting the AlgenBrain platform.
• UC BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic founding partner. Company originated from the laboratory of Professor Jennifer Doudna at UC Berkeley.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner. CEO completed PhD research in Scott Lowe's lab at MSKCC.
• UCSFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner. Frank McCormick serves as Drug Discovery and Oncology Advisor and is Professor at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• NIHminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner listed on the technology page.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: AI-driven drug discovery company combining high-throughput biology with foundation models to identify novel targets. Most directly comparable to Algen in using AI to industrialize early-stage target discovery for large-pharma partners.
• Insitro: Machine learning-enabled drug discovery platform combining functional genomics and high-throughput biology. Closely aligned with Algen's AI + functional-genomics discovery model and pharma-partnership GTM.
• Schrödinger: Computational chemistry and AI platform serving pharma partners with predictive modeling for target identification and lead optimization. Comparable as an AI-native platform with enterprise pharma partnerships.
• Exscientia: AI-driven precision medicine company focused on small-molecule drug discovery with pharma partnerships. Comparable AI-first discovery model and enterprise partnership GTM.
• BenevolentAI: AI-driven drug discovery company using knowledge graphs and machine learning to identify novel targets. Comparable AI-first discovery platform with pharma partnerships, though more publicly listed.

Emerging players

• Generate Biomedicines: AI-driven generative biology platform designing novel proteins and biologics. Comparable as an AI-platform biotech partnering with large pharma to accelerate therapeutic discovery.
• Mammoth Biosciences: CRISPR-based diagnostic and therapeutic company co-founded by Jennifer Doudna. Relevant as a Doudna-ecosystem peer using CRISPR technology, though focused on gene-editing therapeutics and diagnostics rather than target discovery.
• Caribou Biosciences: CRISPR genome-editing company developing allogeneic cell therapies. Comparable CRISPR heritage and California footprint, though focused on therapeutic editing rather than target discovery.

Broad incumbents

• Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet-backed AI drug discovery company applying foundation models to pharma partnerships. Highly comparable mission and platform approach, but with substantially greater capital backing.
• Beam Therapeutics: Clinical-stage base-editing therapeutics company using proprietary CRISPR-adjacent technology. Comparable CRISPR-platform biotech partnering with pharma, but operating further downstream in therapeutic development.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/algen-biotechnologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Algen Biotechnologies