Business · Companies · 3 hrs ago
Bengaluru startup Peptris uses AI to develop drug candidates for rare diseases
Bengaluru startup Peptris Technologies uses AI to find drug candidates for diseases that are difficult to treat.
Founded in 2019, the company’s platform designs molecules and looks for new uses for existing drugs.
Its work includes targets that conventional drugs have struggled to reach.
Peptris has secured ₹86 crore in government funding and ₹70 crore in Series A investment to support its research.
One repurposed candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy has been licensed to Revio Therapeutics and received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Rare diseases remain a major unmet need: the company’s CEO said about 95% of an estimated 7,000 rare diseases have no cure.
Peptris plans to advance four assets through preclinical development with support from the government grant.
Peptris Technologies is using an AI platform to develop drug candidates, with a focus on rare diseases and previously “undruggable” proteins.
The Bengaluru startup has received an ₹86 crore government grant and raised ₹70 crore in Series A funding.
It plans to advance four assets through preclinical development using the government grant.
Peptris has out-licensed a repurposed drug candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy to Revio Therapeutics.
Its platform also searches for new targets or disease uses for previously approved drugs.
- Who
- Peptris Technologies, a Bengaluru startup founded by Shridhar Narayanan, Venkatasubramanian Narayanan, Anand Budni and Amit Mahajan.
- What
- It uses AI to identify drug candidates, including for rare diseases and previously undruggable proteins.
- When
- Founded in 2019; the article was published on 30 October 2026.
- Where
- Bengaluru, India.
- Why
- To accelerate drug discovery and target diseases with significant unmet medical needs.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Shridhar Narayanan and Venkatasubramanian Narayanan met and began discussing how technology could intersect with drug discovery.
Peptris Technologies was founded and incubated at the C-CAMP campus in Bengaluru.
Peptris secured ₹86 crore from the government’s RDI Fund and said it plans to advance four assets through preclinical development.
- Founded
- 2019
- Government grant
- ₹86 crore from the RDI Fund
- Series A funding
- ₹70 crore
- Assets planned for preclinical development
- Four
- Out-licensed candidate
- PEPR124 (RT001), for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
- Estimated rare diseases
- 7,000; 95% have no cure yet
What people are saying
That’s the scale of the problem,
The advantage with using a technology like the one that we have is that it is agnostic to the disease area, and to the therapeutic target.