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Healx

Healx uses AI to accelerate the discovery and development of treatments for rare diseases, improving patient outcomes globally.

Categories

Technology  
Pharma and Life Sciences  

GB United Kingdom

Country

Healx
Leadership team

Dr Tim Guilliams  (Co-founder and CEO)

Dr David Brown  (Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer)

Dr Bruce Bloom  (Chief Collaboration Officer)

Dr Mark Youssef  (Global Head of Business Development and Licensing)

Trevor Bennington  (Senior Finance Director)

Nick Street  (Head of Operations, People & Tech)

Richard Davenport  ( Senior Director, Drug)

Miguel Pignatelli  (Director, Tech Strategy)

Simone Manso  (Head of Neurofibromatosis Therapy Development)

Hanna Orr MFPM  (Medical Director)

Industries

Technology

Pharma and Life Sciences

Products/ Services
AI-driven drug discovery platform (Healnet) Drug redevelopment Clinical trial acceleration Partnerships with pharmaceutical companies
Number of Employees
100 - 500
Established
2014
Company Type
Private company limited by shares or Ltd
Company Registration
09018507
Social Media
Overview
Location
Summary

Healx, founded in 2014 in Cambridge, UK, by Dr Tim Guilliams and Dr David Brown, is an AI-driven biotech company focused on discovering and developing treatments for rare diseases. With over 7,000 known rare diseases affecting 400 million people globally, only 5% have approved treatments. Healx addresses this unmet need by combining advanced AI technology with drug discovery and development expertise to accelerate treatment development. The company has raised $70 million and built a team of over 80 experts.

Healx's AI platform, Healnet, is designed to identify potential drug combinations from the 4,000 approved drugs on the market, a process crucial in their work to combat COVID-19. The platform analyses vast biomedical data to predict successful combinations, particularly focusing on vulnerable patients with pre-existing conditions like Alström syndrome and cystic fibrosis. Healx’s efforts in this area are led by Dr Brown, a veteran in pharmaceutical innovation and co-inventor of Viagra. The company’s mission remains to advance the development of therapies for rare diseases, providing hope to millions of patients worldwide.


 

History

Healx was founded in 2014 by Dr Tim Guilliams, a PhD biophysicist, and Dr David Brown, a renowned drug discovery expert. Their journey began with an encounter that would shape their mission: they met Nick Sireau, who had established a patient group to find treatments for his sons’ rare genetic disorder. Despite a decade of tireless effort, Nick found the drug discovery process slow and prohibitively expensive—a challenge faced by many patient groups.

Tim and Dave, advocates of drug redevelopment—the repurposing of existing drugs for new therapeutic uses—saw potential in combining this approach with artificial intelligence. They believed this innovative and cost-effective method could address the challenges Nick and the broader rare disease community faced. Inspired by Nick’s story, they aimed to revolutionise the treatment landscape for rare diseases.

Healx’s mission was clear: to improve the lives of rare disease patients by accelerating the discovery and development of treatments using AI. The company’s approach centres on its next-generation AI platform, Healnet. This platform integrates data from biomedical research, scientific literature, patient insights, and Healx’s curated sources to form a comprehensive rare disease knowledge graph. By applying advanced AI models to this graph, Healnet rapidly identifies novel disease-compound relationships with the highest chances of success.

The traditional drug discovery process, predominantly focused on blockbuster drugs for common diseases, typically takes 12-15 years and costs between $2-3 billion. With a failure rate of 95%, this model is unsuitable for rare disease patients, who need timely and affordable solutions. Healx’s AI-driven approach promises to cut the time required to bring a drug to market to 6-8 years, at significantly lower costs.

Healx’s innovative methods quickly demonstrated their value. The company’s lead programme, targeting fragile X syndrome, progressed from in silico discovery to the identification of active preclinical combinations in under 24 months. This success underscored the potential of AI to accelerate drug development and improve outcomes for rare disease patients.

Partnerships play a crucial role in Healx’s strategy to expand its pipeline. The company actively seeks rare disease assets in or near human clinical trials to leverage its clinical, regulatory, and commercial infrastructure. A notable partnership is with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pharmaceutical companies. This collaboration aims to identify new disease indications for Ono’s proprietary assets using Healnet’s innovative indication expansion technology.

Healx’s commitment to patient-inspired innovation extends to its values. The company prioritises the needs of rare disease patients, fostering a supportive environment for patients and their families. It also emphasises personal and professional growth for its team, promoting a culture of mutual respect, honest communication, and teamwork.
 

By 2025, Healx plans to launch around 50 programmes, aiming to bring treatments to millions of underserved rare disease patients. This ambitious goal is made possible by the company’s AI-powered drug discovery methods, focus on derisked drug candidates, and application of financial risk modelling.

Healx’s journey, from its founding to its current position at the forefront of AI-driven drug discovery, exemplifies the transformative potential of combining innovative technology with deep pharmacological expertise and patient engagement. The company continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in rare disease treatment, offering hope to millions of patients worldwide.


 

Mission

Healx’s mission is to improve the lives of rare disease patients by using artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery and development of treatments. By leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, Healx aims to significantly reduce the time and cost associated with traditional drug discovery processes, providing faster access to effective treatments for those with unmet medical needs.

Vision

Healx envisions a future where every rare disease patient has access to effective and affordable treatments. The company strives to be a global leader in AI-driven drug discovery, transforming the way rare diseases are treated and making a profound impact on patient lives. By pioneering innovative solutions and fostering collaborations, Healx aims to address the vast unmet needs in the rare disease community.

Key Team

Dr Tim Guilliams (Co-founder and CEO)

Dr David Brown (Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer)

Dr Bruce Bloom (Chief Collaboration Officer)

Dr Mark Youssef (Global Head of Business Development and Licensing)

Trevor Bennington (Senior Finance Director)

Nick Street (Head of Operations, People & Tech)

Richard Davenport (Senior Director, Drug)

Miguel Pignatelli (Director, Tech Strategy)

Simone Manso (Head of Neurofibromatosis Therapy Development)

Hanna Orr MFPM (Medical Director)

Recognition and Awards
Healx has garnered significant recognition for its innovative contributions to biotechnology and AI-driven drug discovery. The company was included in the Future Fifty 8.0 Cohort and earned the Company Award for Innovation in 2020. It received multiple accolades in 2020, such as Outstanding Achievement in Social Good Use of AI, Outstanding AI Accelerator, Best AI Product in Health, and a spot on CB Insights' Digital Health 150 list. Healx was also recognised in the East of England Tech 50 and named one of the Top 50 Companies to Work for in 2021. The company's achievements in AI were further acknowledged with the Tech for Good Award in 2021, inclusion in the Top Life Sciences Platform Startups, and repeated recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Social Good Use of AI. Additionally, Healx won the Tech4Good Awards for AI for Good and was shortlisted for the London Tech Week’s Tech for Impact Startup of the Year. The company’s excellence in AI was earlier recognised with the Eurordis Black Pearl Award, Best Use of AI in Health and Medicine in 2019, and the title of AI Company of the Year in 2019.
Products and Services

Healx offers a range of innovative products and services focused on accelerating drug discovery for rare diseases. Central to its offerings is Healnet, an advanced AI-driven drug discovery platform that integrates data from biomedical research, scientific literature, patient insights, and curated sources to form a comprehensive rare disease knowledge graph. Healnet uses state-of-the-art AI models to rapidly identify novel disease-compound relationships with the highest chances of success, significantly shortening the drug development timeline.

In addition to Healnet, Healx specialises in drug redevelopment, repurposing existing drugs for new therapeutic uses. This approach, combined with AI, allows the company to discover treatments faster and at lower costs. Healx also partners with pharmaceutical companies to leverage its technology to find new indications for existing assets and enhance the efficacy of drug candidates.

With a commitment to patient-inspired innovation, Healx supports clinical trial acceleration, ensuring that promising treatments reach patients as quickly as possible. Through its comprehensive suite of services, Healx is dedicated to transforming the landscape of rare disease treatment and improving patient outcomes globally.


 

References

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Healx
Leadership team

Dr Tim Guilliams  (Co-founder and CEO)

Dr David Brown  (Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer)

Dr Bruce Bloom  (Chief Collaboration Officer)

Dr Mark Youssef  (Global Head of Business Development and Licensing)

Trevor Bennington  (Senior Finance Director)

Nick Street  (Head of Operations, People & Tech)

Richard Davenport  ( Senior Director, Drug)

Miguel Pignatelli  (Director, Tech Strategy)

Simone Manso  (Head of Neurofibromatosis Therapy Development)

Hanna Orr MFPM  (Medical Director)

Industries

Technology

Pharma and Life Sciences

Products/ Services
AI-driven drug discovery platform (Healnet) Drug redevelopment Clinical trial acceleration Partnerships with pharmaceutical companies
Number of Employees
100 - 500
Established
2014
Company Type
Private company limited by shares or Ltd
Company Registration
09018507
Social Media