What Auransa does

Auransa is a clinical-stage, AI-native biopharma company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, founded in 2014, that develops novel therapeutics for cancer and other hard-to-treat diseases. Its core product is a proprietary AI platform that ingests 500,000+ gene expression profiles across 70+ diseases to discover novel drug candidates for the most responsive patient populations, using a "biology-first" methodology that prioritizes heterogeneous human disease data over generative diffusion models. The platform is augmented through a partnership with Polaris Quantum Biotech (PolarisQB) to apply the QuADD quantum-aided drug design engine, running on D-Wave Advantage systems, for designing compounds targeting challenging binding pockets. Auransa's lead clinical candidate is AU409, currently in first-in-human trials in the United States for liver cancer, with the first patient in Asia recently dosed, alongside additional programs in heart-safe chemotherapy and other indications.

The company is co-founded and led by CEO Pek Lum, a genomics veteran with prior experience at Rosetta and Merck, supported by co-founder and COO Viwat Visuthikraisee, Chief Scientific Officer Andy Protter, and VP Medicinal Chemist Greg Luedtke. Strategic investors across disclosed funding rounds include 11.2 Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, DCVC, Future Shape, Harmonix Fund, and Lux Capital, with a $15.7 million Series A in 2020 representing the largest disclosed financing.

Name

Auransa

Legal name

Auransa Inc.

Website

https://auransa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Auransa is a clinical-stage, AI-native biopharma company that uses its proprietary platform analyzing 500,000+ gene expression profiles across 70+ diseases to discover novel cancer therapeutics, with lead candidate AU409 now in first-in-human trials for liver cancer.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI-Driven Biopharmaceuticals

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital & AI-Enabled Diagnostics (algorithmic interpretation, decision support tied to assays) (HLAAALAO)

Keywords

• AI drug discovery
• Clinical stage biopharma
• Cancer therapeutics
• Precision medicine
• Gene expression analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Drug Development and Commercialization: As a clinical-stage biopharma company, Auransa generates revenue through development and eventual commercialization of AI-discovered therapeutics. Revenue will be derived from drug licensing deals, partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, and eventual product sales upon regulatory approval.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Auransa is a clinical-stage AI-native biopharma company that operates a proprietary biology-first AI platform to mine 500,000+ human gene expression profiles across 70+ diseases and discover novel cancer therapeutics targeted at the most responsive patient subpopulations. Its lead clinical asset, AU409, is in first-in-human trials for liver cancer, with the first patient dosed in Asia following the ongoing US trial. The company augments discovery with the QuADD quantum computing platform through its partnership with PolarisQB.

Product overview

Auransa is a clinical-stage AI-native biopharma company with a single unified proprietary AI platform that analyzes heterogeneous human disease data (500,000+ gene expression profiles) to discover novel therapeutics. The company's portfolio includes the AI Platform for drug discovery and AU409, a clinical-stage drug candidate currently in first-in-human trials for liver cancer. The AI platform serves as the core technology engine that drives therapeutic discovery, while AU409 represents the first clinical candidate advancing through human trials, with ongoing programs in liver cancer and heart-safe chemotherapy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Auransa AI Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 500,000+ gene expression profiles analyzed across 70+ diseases
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Polaris Quantum Biotech (PolarisQB)coreTechnology or Integration · 12 January 2026Auransa is actively collaborating with PolarisQB to apply the QuADD (Quantum-Aided Drug Design) platform in its drug discovery programs. The partnership enables Auransa to leverage quantum computing technology for designing compounds targeting challenging binding pockets, potentially accelerating the discovery of novel therapeutic candidates.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Insitro: Machine-learning-driven drug discovery company building predictive models from large biological datasets to accelerate therapeutic development, directly comparable in AI-native biology-first approach.
• BenevolentAI: AI-driven drug discovery company combining biomedical knowledge graphs with machine learning to identify novel targets, comparable in applying AI to heterogeneous biomedical data for therapeutic discovery.
• Schrödinger: Computational chemistry and AI-driven drug discovery platform serving both internal pipeline and pharma collaborators, directly comparable technology stack for AI-enabled molecular design.
• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Clinical-stage AI-native biopharma combining high-throughput biology with machine learning to discover therapeutics across multiple disease areas, directly comparable to Auransa's AI-platform-driven drug discovery model.
• Atomwise: AI-driven small-molecule drug discovery company using structure-based deep learning for hit identification, comparable technology angle in AI-enabled molecular design.
• Exscientia: AI-driven precision medicine company using its platform to design and develop patient-centric drug candidates, directly comparable to Auransa's AI-platform + clinical-stage oncology approach.
• XtalPi: AI + quantum-physics + robotics drug discovery company targeting challenging binding problems, directly comparable given Auransa's PolarisQB quantum-aided drug design partnership.
• Lantern Pharma: AI-driven oncology company using its RADR platform to identify and develop targeted therapies, comparable in clinical-stage AI-oncology focus with a similar small-cap scale.
• Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet-backed AI drug discovery company applying computational and AI methods to predict drug behavior and accelerate discovery, comparable in AI-native biopharma positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Owkin: AI-for-biopharma company applying machine learning to multimodal patient and biological data for therapeutic discovery across pharma partners, comparable adjacent AI-biopharma platform play.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/auransainc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 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 Auransa