Kevin Weil launches Warp Sciences to automate drug discovery labs

Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s former science lead, has launched Warp Sciences, a startup focused on automating laboratory work for drug discovery, according to TechCrunch. Weil announced the company and its funding on X.

The startup has raised $215 million at an $865 million valuation, according to Weil. Lightspeed led the round, with IVP, Premji Invest and Lux Capital also participating.

Warp Sciences trains robots to make and test promising compounds identified by researchers. The company aims to automate “wet-lab” work, including tasks performed by human chemists. Those chemists will wear cameras and sensor gloves to train the robots.

Biotech companies have outsourced labor-intensive work, such as synthesizing thousands of molecule variations, to contractors in China, including WuXi AppTec. Weil hopes Warp Sciences can bring that work back and reduce the drug-development process’s exposure to geopolitical supply-chain risks.

The startup’s stated goal is to accelerate drug discovery with robots that can operate around the clock. The report describes that goal and the company’s plans; it does not provide a timeline for deploying the robots or evidence of results from automated experiments.