$1B AI Drug Discovery Startup Xaira Therapeutics Appoints Foundation Model Expert Bo Wang as Head of Biomedical AI

Xaira Therapeutics, an AI-driven biotech launched in April 2024 with over $1 billion in funding, has appointed Dr. Bo Wang as Senior Vice President and Head of Biomedical AI. The company is focused on building an end-to-end drug development platform that integrates large-scale data generation, multimodal foundation models, and generative design tools for protein therapeutics. Its approach combines AI-native frameworks for understanding disease biology, algorithms for de novo protein and antibody design, and predictive systems to optimize patient selection and clinical trial design.

See also: Xaira Therapeutics Launches with Over $1 Billion to Enhance Drug R&D Using AI

Wang is a professor at the University of Toronto, CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and Chief AI Scientist at University Health Network. His research includes foundation models for biology and healthcare, with recent work in biomolecular modeling, genomic analysis, and multimodal AI for precision medicine. At Xaira, he will lead efforts to build AI systems that can help characterize complex disease biology and match patients with effective therapies.

Dr. Bo Wang

Founded by a team that includes Nobel laureate David Baker and backed by investors such as ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, NEA, Sequoia, and Foresite Labs, Xaira has positioned itself to develop both generative models for molecule design and tools for real-time optimization of clinical development. Its core platform builds on technologies from the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design, especially de novo antibody generation and AI-based protein structure prediction.

Wang’s appointment follows a broader buildout of technical and scientific leadership at the company, which includes former Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne as CEO. The company is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with additional operations in Seattle.

Topics: Startups & Deals