Tessel Biosciences
Tessel Biosciences is a Cambridge-based AI-driven drug discovery company that builds computational models of human tissue physiology to predict drug safety and efficacy for pharmaceutical partners. It serves major pharma and biopharma R&D clients through collaborations and maintains an internal preclinical pipeline.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersCambridge, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Tessel Biosciences does
Tessel Biosciences is a privately held pharmaceutical development company founded in 2022 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company builds computational models of human physiology to predict drug behavior, safety, and efficacy before clinical testing, addressing the high failure rates that characterize traditional preclinical drug discovery. Its core offering is the Virtual Tissue Platform, which simulates primary human tissue — including gut, kidney, and blood-brain barrier — to model ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity) properties of small molecule therapeutics.
The platform is augmented by two specialized AI systems: Sesame, a frontier generative chemistry model that performs structure-aware molecular generation via spatial density-map conditioning (documented in a published arXiv paper); and Tesselogic, an active learning system for efficient drug target discovery. Tessel also maintains its own therapeutic pipeline, with TSL-101, an inhaled small molecule for muco-obstructive lung disease, currently in preclinical development. The company generates revenue through strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies — notably a target discovery partnership with Sanofi and a real-world COPD data collaboration with Century Health — supplemented by non-dilutive government funding, including an up to $4.2 million award through the ARPA-H CATALYST program as part of the PREDICTS consortium. Its go-to-market is exclusively enterprise B2B, with no self-serve or direct-to-consumer channel.
Tessel Biosciences firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tessel Biosciences
- Legal name
- Tessel Biosciences, Inc.
- Website
- https://tessel.bio
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Tessel Biosciences is a Cambridge-based AI-driven drug discovery company that builds computational models of human tissue physiology to predict drug safety and efficacy for pharmaceutical partners. It serves major pharma and biopharma R&D clients through collaborations and maintains an internal preclinical pipeline.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tessel Biosciences industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI-driven Drug Discovery Platform
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE)
Keywords
Where Tessel Biosciences is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Tessel Biosciences business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Strategic Pharma Collaborations: Revenue generated through research collaborations and partnerships with pharmaceutical companies for AI-driven target discovery, drug development, and computational modeling services.
- Government Research Grants: Non-dilutive funding through programs like ARPA-H CATALYST for development of drug safety prediction methodologies and primary human tissue models.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Tessel Biosciences product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tessel Biosciences develops AI-powered computational platforms that model primary human tissue biology to identify and advance novel therapeutics, with an initial focus on respiratory disease. Its core offerings include a Virtual Tissue Platform, a generative chemistry AI named Sesame, and an active-learning engine called Tesselogic, which together support preclinical drug candidate discovery such as TSL-101.
Product overview
Tessel Biosciences offers a computational drug discovery platform centered on its virtual tissue technology, augmented by specialized AI tools. The core Virtual Tissue Platform enables simulation of human physiology for drug efficacy and safety prediction. Two key AI products support the platform: Sesame (frontier AI for generative chemistry via spatial density-map conditioning) and Tesselogic (active learning for target discovery). The company also advances its own therapeutic pipeline, including TSL-101, an inhaled small molecule for muco-obstructive lung disease in preclinical stage. These offerings work together to support the full drug discovery workflow from target identification through molecular design to efficacy prediction.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Virtual Tissue Platform AI-powered computational platform that simulates primary human tissue biology to support preclinical drug discovery and target identification, aimed at pharmaceutical R&D organizations.
- Sesame Generative chemistry AI product that designs and prioritizes novel small molecules for use by internal discovery teams and pharmaceutical collaborators.
- Tesselogic Active-learning engine that prioritizes and validates therapeutic targets using primary human tissue data, supporting preclinical research teams and pharma partners.
- TSL-101 Preclinical-stage drug candidate being developed by Tessel Biosciences for respiratory disease indications, advanced using the company's Virtual Tissue Platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- Awarded up to $4.2M from ARPA-H CATALYST program for drug safety prediction development
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Tessel Biosciences
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Tessel Biosciences technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature3 records
Tessel Biosciences partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- SanoficoreCollaboration on AI for target discovery in therapeutics development. Tessel Biosciences contributes its AI-driven target discovery capabilities (including Tesselogic) while Sanofi provides pharmaceutical development expertise and resources.
- Century HealthcoreCollaboration to utilize AI-curated real-world COPD data for drug development. The partnership aims to identify patient subgroups that could benefit from targeted therapies by analyzing clinical data to better understand disease variability. Tessel contributes its AI and computational modeling expertise while Century Health provides real-world COPD patient data.
- Deep OriginminorLead of the PREDICTS consortium under the ARPA-H CATALYST program, coordinating efforts among consortium members including Tessel Biosciences, Ginkgo Bioworks, Netrias, and MIDO for drug safety prediction development.
- Ginkgo BioworksminorConsortium member in the PREDICTS program under ARPA-H CATALYST, contributing to the multi-institutional effort for advancing drug safety prediction methodologies.
- NetriasminorConsortium member in the PREDICTS program under ARPA-H CATALYST, collaborating on drug safety and ADMET prediction using computational approaches.
- MIDOminorConsortium member in the PREDICTS program under ARPA-H CATALYST, contributing to the multi-institutional effort for advancing drug safety prediction methodologies.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Tessel Biosciences competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Exscientia: AI-driven pharma company that designs and develops small molecule drugs using a precision medicine platform. Directly comparable to Tessel for combining generative chemistry AI with pharma collaborations and an internal pipeline.
- Insitro: AI-driven drug discovery company combining machine learning with high-throughput biology to model disease and develop therapeutics. Closely matches Tessel's playbook of pairing an AI platform with internal pipeline assets and pharma partnerships.
- Atomwise: AI-driven small molecule drug discovery company focused on structure-based design and high-throughput virtual screening. Comparable to Tessel for AI-enabled small molecule design serving pharma customers and academic collaborators.
- XtalPi: AI + quantum physics-powered drug discovery platform serving global pharma with computational chemistry and a growing internal pipeline. Closely mirrors Tessel's combination of an AI/ML discovery platform and pharma partnerships.
- Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Public AI drug discovery company using high-dimensional biology and ML to discover and develop medicines at scale. A direct competitor in using AI/ML to industrialize target identification and small molecule discovery.
- InSilico Medicine: AI-driven drug discovery company combining generative biology, chemistry, and clinical predictive models with an internal pipeline. Direct strategic analogue to Tessel's combination of AI platform, internal drug candidate, and pharma partnering.
- Schrödinger: Provider of computational chemistry and physics-based simulation platforms widely used by pharma for drug discovery. Comparable as a platform-first AI/ML drug discovery vendor selling into the same enterprise pharma customer base as Tessel.
- Iambic Therapeutics: Generative AI drug discovery company building frontier models for structure-based small molecule design. Highly comparable to Tessel's Sesame generative chemistry system and platform-plus-pipeline model.
Broad incumbents
- Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet/DeepMind spin-out building an AI-first drug discovery platform with major pharma collaborations (e.g., Novartis, Eli Lilly). Overlaps with Tessel's target discovery and generative molecule design ambitions but operates with vastly greater capital and parent-company backing.
Emerging players
- Owkin: AI-for-health company combining real-world clinical data, federated learning, and biology models to accelerate drug development. Overlaps with Tessel's RWD + AI angle (e.g., Century Health collaboration) but more focused on clinical and translational research than small molecule discovery.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Tessel Biosciences social profiles
Digital presenceTessel Biosciences financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tessel Biosciences leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Tessel Biosciences funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tessel Biosciences M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Tessel Biosciences
What does Tessel Biosciences do?
Tessel Biosciences develops AI-powered computational platforms that model primary human tissue biology to identify and advance novel therapeutics, with an initial focus on respiratory disease. Its core offerings include a Virtual Tissue Platform, a generative chemistry AI named Sesame, and an active-learning engine called Tesselogic, which together support preclinical drug candidate discovery such as TSL-101.
Is Tessel Biosciences a public or private company?
Tessel Biosciences is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Tessel Biosciences founded?
Tessel Biosciences was founded in 2022. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Tessel Biosciences based?
Tessel Biosciences is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.
How does Tessel Biosciences make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Strategic Pharma Collaborations are the primary driver. The others are government Research Grants.
Who are Tessel Biosciences's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Exscientia, Insitro, Atomwise, XtalPi, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, InSilico Medicine, Schrödinger and Iambic Therapeutics. Isomorphic Labs is listed as a broad incumbent. Owkin is listed as an emerging player.
Does Tessel Biosciences have an API?
No public API is recorded for Tessel Biosciences.
What industry is Tessel Biosciences in?
Tessel Biosciences's product category is AI-driven Drug Discovery Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAJAO, AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization, with a secondary code of HLAAAIAE, AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 7372.