OpenAI reportedly led a US$153 million equity financing for Toronto-based Biossil, valuing the biotech startup at US$1 billion. The terms were attributed to an unnamed person familiar with the deal. As of September 28, 2026, Biossil had not publicly announced the financing.
The reported OpenAI-Biossil financing
The OpenAI Startup Fund reportedly supplied the majority of the round. Biossil CEO Anthony Mouchantaf declined to comment on the financing.
How Biossil revisits abandoned drug candidates
Biossil uses software incorporating OpenAI large language models to look for reasons candidates abandoned after advanced-stage trials might merit another trial. Those reasons could include a drug helping a particular patient subgroup or problems with a trial’s design or outcome.
The approach focuses on repurposing: revisiting a drug candidate developed for one purpose to see whether it may warrant further study. As of September 28, 2026, Biossil had bought or licensed 12 molecules.
Senicapoc trial activity described in September 2026
A September 28, 2026 account described Biossil as sponsoring a senicapoc trial for sickle cell disease, with recruitment underway at SickKids, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal and McGill University. Johnson & Johnson had previously abandoned development of the drug.
The same account described senicapoc trials for glioblastoma as launching or planned in Germany and Denmark. Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center were named in connection with the German trial; Aarhus University was named for the Danish trial.
What the financing was intended to support
The reported plans for the proceeds were to expand Biossil’s clinical-development capacity and selectively acquire additional drug candidates.
