Billionaire-backed revival pushes LifeMine's fungal drug discovery

LifeMine Therapeutics raised a $188 million Series E led by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos (with RA Capital), reviving its fungus-based drug-discovery platform after a prior round. The platform clusters genes from about 100,000 fungal strains and will apply AI to prioritize ~1,200 targets. Its lead program LIFE-001 is a next-gen calcineurin inhibitor aimed at reducing transplant rejection toxicity; phase 1b in 12 islet-cell transplant patients and phase 2 in 150 kidney transplant patients are planned with readouts targeted for 2027. A potential $25–$30 billion market in transplantation underpins optimism, with LifeMine eyeing autoimmune indications and ongoing or future partnerships (e.g., with GSK) while rehiring furloughed staff.