Turbine

Turbine develops an AI platform, marketed as Simulated Cell and delivered through a "Virtual Lab", that simulates biological experiments computationally before they are run in a cell, animal or patient. The models learn parameters governing cell signaling from perturbation-response data, drug target profiles and genomic/transcriptomic profiles, with the stated aim of generalizing from cell lines to patient samples and predicting outcomes for experimental conditions the model has not seen. Simulated samples span cell lines, patient-derived organoids, patient-derived xenografts and patient samples, and can be perturbed genetically or pharmacologically at computational scale, producing phenotypic and transcriptomic readouts.

The platform is offered in three tiers. vLab Core provides simulations on public data plus Turbine's proprietary datasets, covering 1,400 oncology cell lines, 1,200 payloads, drugs and drug-like molecules, and knockout alterations across more than 8,500 genes, together with an interpretation toolkit. vLab Custom applies in silico prediction to a partner's proprietary datasets, sample libraries and drugs, with interpretation services. vLab Collaborate extends simulation to virtual endogenous disease models, single or multi-cell samples, and integrates into partner workflows. A wet lab-in-the-loop component validates in silico predictions experimentally and feeds resulting data back into the platform.

Stated application areas include target discovery, combination design, antibody-drug conjugate positioning, biomarker selection, clinical positioning and indication expansion. A translational suite is used to filter millions of simulations into mechanistically explained hypotheses, which are then converted into experimental workplans and validated from in vitro to in vivo.

Founding story

Turbine was established by Hungarian founders; the company's team page states it was established in 2016 and also that CEO Szabolcs Nagy co-founded Turbine in 2015. Nagy studied international business at Corvinus University of Budapest and had previously co-founded a cybersecurity startup that was acquired, later serving as Chief Strategy Officer at The Medical Futurist before refocusing on Turbine. Co-founder and CTO Kristof Szalay, a computer scientist turned biochemist, invented Turbine's original method for simulating human cellular responses to therapeutic perturbations and was named to MIT Technology Review Europe's 35 Innovators under 35 in 2018. Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Veres is a medical doctor specializing in cancer research who translates the platform's computational output into clinical interpretation.

Business model

Turbine sells access to its simulation platform and associated scientific services to biopharma organizations through tiered engagement models: self-serve simulation on Turbine's and public datasets (vLab Core), custom in silico work on a partner's proprietary data with interpretation services (vLab Custom), and deeper collaborative programs across a partner's portfolio (vLab Collaborate). Engagements deliver decision-ready data packages, mechanistic hypotheses and experimental workplans, with optional wet-lab validation.

Revenue is derived from partnerships and platform engagements with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, spanning self-serve virtual lab access, custom in silico prediction and interpretation services, and collaborative R&D programs.

Traction

Turbine reports partnerships with Bayer, AstraZeneca and Merck, and Ono Pharmaceutical states the company has provided multiple targets with first-in-class potential. Platform metrics cited by the company include capacity for 50 million simulations per day, 1.5x higher likelihood of validation from mechanistic hypotheses, and a 2x reduction in time from scientific question to validation, including one case in which 9 million simulations were reduced to actionable recommendations in four weeks. The company also reports that simulation-guided data generation reaches equivalent model performance with 5x fewer data points, corresponding to roughly 80% lower data spend. The team page lists roughly 100 staff across machine learning, computational biology, wet lab, engineering and commercial functions.

Latest developments

The company describes a $25 million Series B as its most recent financing milestone, with an IVP-appointed Series B investor director and a Merck-appointed Series B observer on its board. Its product line-up now includes ADC intelligence, target discovery and de-risking intelligence, and simulation of endogenous diseases within the Virtual Lab.