Red Queen Bio is racing to build antibody drugs before the viruses they target even exist.
The OpenAI-backed biosecurity startup has raised $36 million in total, according to a new report. It is using AI to design antibody treatments, starting with bird flu and other influenza strains, and plans to begin its first clinical trials soon. Longer term, the company wants its antibody-design pipeline ready for viruses that AI systems could someday help create, not just the ones nature produces on its own.
The bet here cuts both ways. The same AI modeling techniques that could help someone design a dangerous pathogen can, in theory, also help build the antibody that stops it. OpenAI's backing gives Red Queen Bio credibility and compute access most biosecurity startups don't have, but it also ties the company's stated mission to the very technology it is hedging against.
For now, the product is bird-flu antibodies, not a defense against viruses that don't exist yet - whether the AI-versus-AI arms race actually plays out that way remains untested.