Sofinnova Partners and NVIDIA Boost European Life Sciences Innovation

Sofinnova Partners, a prominent European life sciences venture capital firm, has recently announced a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA to support its portfolio of innovative startups in the life sciences sector. This partnership grants significant Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) credits to select Sofinnova-backed companies, providing them with access to cutting-edge computational power. NVIDIA's contribution includes GPUs from architectures like NVIDIA Blackwell and access to the NVIDIA DGX Cloud Lepton platform, an AI marketplace and infrastructure connecting developers to global AI resources. Four notable European digital medicine startups—BioCorteX, Bioptimus, Cure51, and Latent Labs—are set to benefit from this collaboration. These companies will use the enhanced computing resources to process extensive biological datasets and run complex computational models, tasks that typically require extensive time and resources. With these tools, they can complete what would otherwise take months in a matter of days, significantly accelerating their R&D processes and bringing their innovations to market faster. Cure51, a leader in decoding the biology of exceptional cancer survivors, is a prime example of how the collaboration can drive transformative results. By utilizing NVIDIA Parabricks, a GPU-accelerated genomics toolkit, Cure51 achieved a remarkable 17x speedup in genomic data analysis and more than 2x cost savings with NVIDIA L4 GPUs compared to their CPU baseline. This acceleration not only enhances their data processing capabilities but also scales their insights, paving the way for more effective and targeted cancer treatments. Antoine Papiernik, Chairman and Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, emphasized the importance of this collaboration: "The convergence of biology, AI, computation, and data is the defining battleground of the next decade. By securing NVIDIA’s infrastructure, we're empowering our portfolio companies to outperform incumbents and redefine what's possible in drug discovery, precision medicine, and scalable solutions that address human health and sustainability." NVIDIA DGX Cloud Lepton and the NVIDIA Cloud Partner network are integral components of this initiative. They provide startups with the computational backbone needed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare and biopharma, such as aging populations, staffing shortages, and rising costs. These resources are particularly valuable in an era where AI-driven solutions are becoming increasingly crucial. Case Studies of Impactful Innovations Basecamp Research: London-based startup Basecamp Research has unveiled BaseData, the world's largest and most diverse biological dataset for generative AI in life sciences. Built from samples collected at over 125 locations in 26 countries, BaseData contains more than 938 billion new biological sequences and over a million previously unknown species. This dataset is 30 times larger and growing 1000 times faster than UniRef 50, a widely used public database. Basecamp is leveraging NVIDIA BioNeMo Framework on the NVIDIA DGX Cloud Lepton platform to train next-generation foundation models, aiming to unlock new possibilities in biological design and drug discovery. Phil Lorenz, Chief Technology Officer at Basecamp Research, commented, "Data-optimal scaling is the key to overcoming the real-world limitations of current biological models. Combined with NVIDIA’s compute and AI stack, we’re training models that can understand and generate biology at unprecedented levels." Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (PATH): Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, the largest in the U.K., is collaborating with global investment company General Catalyst and two NVIDIA Inception startups, Hippocratic AI and Sword Health, to launch PATH—the Proactive and Accessible Transformation of Healthcare initiative. PATH aims to transform healthcare delivery by integrating advanced AI agents to reduce specialty care waitlists, improve pain management, and streamline triage. Hippocratic AI’s conversational agents automate patient outreach, history-taking, and referral validation, while Sword Health’s AI Care platform, which has already treated over 500,000 patients globally and facilitated 6.5 million AI sessions, focuses on physical pain and other clinical areas. Ian Abbs, CEO of Guy’s and St. Thomas’, highlighted the initiative's goals: "PATH seeks to deliver better, faster, and fairer healthcare for all by combining cutting-edge technology with clinical care." Munjal Shah, founder and CEO of Hippocratic AI, added, "Our safety-focused generative AI agents can enable healthcare abundance in the U.K. by providing more personalized care, which improves patient outcomes and satisfaction." Pangaea Data: Another NVIDIA Inception company, Pangaea Data, based in London and San Francisco, is utilizing the NVIDIA NeMo Agent toolkit and NVIDIA NIM microservices to identify patients who are currently untreated or under-treated, even though the necessary intelligence exists in their medical records. Their platform, which calculates clinical scores for diagnosing diseases with non-specific symptoms like fever, nausea, and headache, has seen a dramatic reduction in setup time, from weeks to a single day. This efficiency allows Pangaea to accelerate the discovery and treatment of rare and prevalent hard-to-diagnose diseases, contributing to global health equity. Vibhor Gupta, founder and CEO of Pangaea Data, stated, "The NeMo Agent toolkit and NVIDIA NIM microservices have enabled us to reduce configuration time, helping us improve patient outcomes globally." Broadening Impact Through Regional Innovation Sofinnova’s collaboration extends beyond individual startups to create a broader ecosystem of innovation. Other companies, such as Sensible Biotechnologies and Molecular Glue Labs (MGL), are also benefiting from NVIDIA’s sovereign AI infrastructure. Sensible, a U.K.-based startup, reduced its optimization cycles for cell-based mRNA therapeutics design from 15 days to just one, thanks to the NVIDIA Cloud Partner network. Similarly, MGL validated new protein engineering approaches, showcasing the versatility and effectiveness of the NVIDIA GPU ecosystem. The NVIDIA Inception program, which supports cutting-edge startups, plays a pivotal role in this ecosystem. It provides access to the latest developer tools, technical training, and exposure to venture capital firms, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. Sofinnova, Cure51, and other next-generation startups are leveraging this program to develop scalable solutions that can be implemented across various markets, ensuring localized and sovereign compute resources where needed. Industry Evaluation and Future Outlook Industry insiders and company profiles underscore the significance of this collaboration. NVIDIA's partnership with Sofinnova Partners and its portfolio companies is viewed as a pivotal step in democratizing access to high-performance computing for European startups. This democratization not only accelerates R&D but also ensures that these companies can compete on a global scale, leveraging the same computational power as their counterparts in Silicon Valley. Sofinnova Partners, founded in 1972, has a rich history of backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders worldwide. Today, the firm manages over €4 billion in assets and specializes in healthcare and sustainability. Their hands-on approach in building life sciences companies from seed to later stages is complemented by the advanced computational tools provided by NVIDIA, setting the stage for profound advancements in the field. At NVIDIA GTC Paris, taking place from June 10-12 at VivaTech, European healthcare and life sciences companies are showcasing their leadership in AI-driven innovation. The event highlights the continent's ability to deliver transformative solutions, tackling critical issues like the elective care crisis in the U.K. and global health inequities. By deploying applied AI to increase access, improve care, and optimize resources, these companies are building a healthcare system better suited for the future. In summary, the collaboration between Sofinnova Partners and NVIDIA represents a significant milestone in the integration of AI and computational resources into the life sciences sector. This partnership not only empowers European startups to achieve groundbreaking results but also positions them as key players on the global stage, driving innovation and positive change in healthcare and biopharma.