Atomico has led $56m series B round for Cambridge-allied rare disease therapy developer Healx, which also welcomed Intel Capital as a new shareholder.

Healx, a UK-based rare disease medication developer leveraging University of Cambridge technology, obtained $56m today in a series B round led by venture capital firm Atomico.
Intel Capital, a corporate venturing arm of semiconductor manufacturer Intel, also took part in the round, as did VC firms Global Brain, Btov Partners, Balderton Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and private investor Jonathan Milner.
Founded in 2014, Healx is working on drug therapies for rare conditions using an artificial intelligence (AI)-equipped drug discovery platform called Healnet.
Leveraging data such as scientific literature and clinical test results, Healnet builds a “biomedical knowledge graph” delineating possible links between drug molecules and disease, with the aim of identifying clinical-stage candidates within 24 months.
Healx’s primary target is a genetic condition called fragile X syndrome, responsible for developmental disorders such as autism.  The fragile X program has validated several candidates in partnership with Fraxa Research Foundation, a nonprofit agency focused on the disease, and is currently preparing to commence clinical trials.
The series B capital will help Healx progress its pipeline in the hope of bringing 100 rare disease treatments to the clinic by 2025, working alongside groups representing rare disease patient populations under a scheme dubbed the Rare Treatment Accelerator.
Healx was co-founded by chairman David Brown, who previously co-founded Crescendo Biologics, an immunotherapy spinout of University of Cambridge that most recently raised $70m in a series B round in April 2018.
Its leadership team also includes Ian Roberts, a senior investigator at the MRC Cancer Unit at University of Cambridge, a research collaboration between the institution and UK government-owned medical research board Medical Research Council.
Irina Haivas, principal at Atomico, has joined Healx’s board of directors.
Balderton Capital previously led a $10m series A round for Healx in July 2018 with contributions from Jonathan Milner and Amadeus, the latter of which reportedly led a $1.9m round in late 2016 also branded series A and backed by Jonathan Milner.