Kimia Therapeutics

What Kimia Therapeutics does

Kimia Therapeutics is a privately held, Berkeley-based drug discovery company founded in January 2023 as a spin-off from Carmot Therapeutics (which Roche subsequently acquired for up to $3.1B in January 2024). The company operates the ATLAS platform, which integrates active learning, automated high-throughput synthesis, and high-throughput screening into a closed-loop system that generates a proprietary chemical atlas of druggable space. ATLAS produces billions of target-directed compounds on demand, paired with proteomic and gene-editing data, and applies machine learning to map chemical-structure to protein-function relationships at single-atom resolution. The platform is complemented by a proprietary HT-ADME system that delivers hits with inherent metabolic stability and solubility, accelerating progression from hit identification to lead optimization.

The company pursues an internal pipeline in oncology (DNA damage pathway and undisclosed targets) and immunology/inflammation (cytokine and undisclosed programs), alongside a partnered program with Roche/Genentech on an undisclosed target. The business model is B2B partnership-driven: revenue, where it exists, is generated through bespoke discovery collaborations and licensing/royalty arrangements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology counterparties, rather than standardized product pricing. Kimia maintains a lean organization of 11-50 employees and has raised $55 million in Series A funding from The Column Group, Dimension, and Horizons Ventures to fund platform development and pipeline progression toward IND-enabling stages. The leadership team is anchored by co-founder Stig K. Hansen (former Carmot CEO) and was strengthened in 2025 with the appointments of CTO Imran Haque (ex-Recursion AI lead) and SVP Operations Melissa Paoloni to prepare assets for clinical transition.

Name

Kimia Therapeutics

Legal name

Kimia Therapeutics, Inc.

Website

https://kimiatx.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kimia Therapeutics is a Berkeley-based drug discovery company that operates the ATLAS platform — combining active learning, automated synthesis, and high-throughput screening — to generate chemical atlases of druggable space. It partners with pharmaceutical companies, including Roche/Genentech, and pursues internal programs in oncology and immunology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drug Discovery Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAGAJAO

AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Life Science Software & Informatics (LIMS/ELN/Bioinformatics)

SECONDARYHLAIALAA

Drug Discovery (Target ID/Validation & Hit Discovery)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals/Pharmaceutical Research and Development

Keywords

• Drug discovery platform
• Machine learning chemistry
• High-throughput synthesis
• Precision chemistry
• Pharmaceutical partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Drug Discovery Partnerships and Licensing: Revenue generated through partnerships with pharmaceutical companies for drug discovery programs, including co-development agreements and potential licensing of discovered compounds. The company has a partnered program with Roche/Genentech.
2. Pipeline Development: Internal drug discovery pipeline progressing programs through discovery and IND-enabling stages toward clinical development, potentially generating revenue through out-licensing or continued development partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kimia Therapeutics operates a drug discovery business centered on its proprietary ATLAS platform, which combines active learning with automated chemical synthesis and high-throughput screening to identify novel therapeutics in oncology and immunology/inflammation. The company monetizes these capabilities through partnerships with pharmaceutical companies (including Roche/Genentech), co-development agreements, and the development of an internal pipeline of drug candidates targeting DNA damage pathway and cytokine-related diseases for eventual out-licensing.

Product overview

Kimia Therapeutics offers the ATLAS platform as its core unified drug discovery technology, which merges AcTive Learning with Automated Synthesis and Screening. This platform leverages machine learning to generate a chemical atlas mapping the relationship between chemical structure and protein function. ATLAS is supported by the proprietary HT-ADME platform, which delivers high-quality drug candidates with metabolic stability and solubility for lead optimization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ATLAS Platform
• HT-ADME Platform
• Oncology and Immunology/Inflammation Drug Pipeline
• Drug Discovery Partnership Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Access to billions of target-directed compounds on demand
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Roche/GenentechcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered drug discovery program with Roche/Genentech focused on an undisclosed target. Kimia's ATLAS platform is being applied to discover novel therapeutics in collaboration with the pharmaceutical partner.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Atomwise: Atomwise uses AI for virtual screening and design of small molecules across many disease areas, partnering with pharma and pursuing internal programs. Comparable to Kimia's AI/ML small molecule focus, though with a more computational than chemistry-heavy platform.
• Insitro: Insitro applies ML to disease biology and high-throughput phenotypic data to drive small molecule discovery with internal pipeline and major pharma partnerships. It is directly comparable in combining ML, biology, and chemistry with a partnership-heavy GTM motion.
• Exscientia: Exscientia pioneered AI-driven small molecule drug discovery with a partnered pipeline and an internal pipeline. It uses generative chemistry and automation — closely comparable to Kimia's ATLAS approach — and competed directly with Kimia in BD discussions with pharma.
• XtalPi: XtalPi combines AI, quantum physics, and robotic automation for small molecule and crystalline drug discovery, with a partnership-driven business model and Chinese roots. Comparable to Kimia in its AI-plus-automation platform approach and pharma BD motion.
• Schrödinger: Schrödinger operates a physics-based computational chemistry platform augmented by ML for small molecule discovery, with both internal programs and pharma partnerships. Comparable to Kimia in combining computational and high-throughput experimental approaches with partnered economics.
• Recursion: Recursion is an AI/ML-enabled drug discovery company combining high-throughput biology, chemistry, and automation with an internal pipeline and pharma partnerships. It is the most direct strategic and operational analogue to Kimia's ATLAS model, operating at greater scale.
• Isomorphic Labs: Isomorphic Labs is Alphabet's AI-first drug discovery company, applying deep learning to structure prediction, chemistry, and biology. It is a direct peer in ambition and methodology but is significantly better capitalized, representing the most formidable AI-discovery competitor in the field.

Emerging players

• Cradle Bio: Cradle applies generative ML to protein and biologics design with a partnership model. It overlaps thematically with Kimia's AI-discovery thesis but operates in biologics rather than small molecule chemistry, making it an adjacent rather than directly competing player.

Broad incumbents

• Owkin: Owkin applies AI/ML to clinical and translational data for drug discovery and development, partnering with large pharma across multiple therapeutic areas. It is a broader incumbent in AI for pharma with limited overlap in Kimia's high-throughput chemistry niche.
• Generate Biomedicines: Generate Biomedicines uses generative AI for protein and biologic design with a partnership-heavy model and major venture backing. Comparable as a platform-play AI-discovery company but focused on biologics, making it a broader incumbent rather than a direct small molecule peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kimia-therapeutics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors3 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 Kimia Therapeutics