MindRank has raised $52m to advance its pipeline of candidates discovered and designed by artificial intelligence (AI), including a lead glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) currently in a Phase III trial in China.
MindRank, which is based in China’s Zhejiang province capital Hangzhou, has built a Molecule Arts Platform (MAP) that utilises a mix of computation, experimental evidence, and clinical learning to advance biology and chemistry. This, the biotech adds, creates a “unified” R&D system to uncover new medicines.
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The Series B raise will help build out the platform, along with supporting lead drug candidate MDR-001. The oral GLP-1RA entered a Phase III trial (NCT07274137) for obesity treatment in 2025 and is also in clinical development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Obesity forms the lion’s share of indications MindRank is currently pursuing. The biotech has a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) asset, a cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1), and two further undisclosed programmes, all for obesity indications. Two oncology indications mark the sixth and seventh programmes in MindRank’s pipeline.
“Our goal is to translate advances in computation and AI into better medicines for patients,” said Zhangming Niu, founder and CEO of MindRank. “By integrating biological, chemical, computational and clinical data into a continuously learning R&D engine, MAP is designed to make drug discovery and development more predictable, scalable and capital-efficient.”
Obesity market’s global expansion
The global obesity market is currently dominated by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, companies that market Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide). Tirzepatide is branded as Mounjaro and semaglutide is marketed as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes in the US. Mounjaro is also the brand name for tirzepatide outside the US.
According to GlobalData’s Obesity: Seven-Market Drug Forecast and Market Analysis – Update, the obesity market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.3% until 2031 in the seven major markets (7MM: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US).
China represents a major market opportunity, both for injectables and next-generation pills. Novo’s CEO Mike Doustdar confirmed last month that the company will seek regulatory approval for its Wegovy weight loss pill in China, while Lilly has already submitted a marketing application for Foundayo (orforglipron). Both companies’ injectables are approved in China, branded as Wegovy and Mounjaro.
In addition to the two major drugmakers, there are numerous Chinese biotechs alongside MindRank developing obesity drugs, with key readouts having already come so far this year. In May 2026, Vincentage Pharma’s oral GLP-1RA met its endpoints in a Phase III obesity trial. Earlier this month, Hengrui Pharma’s GLP-1RA netted two Phase III wins in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Novo is also co-developing a triple agonist of the receptors for GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon with China-based United Laboratories. The therapy demonstrated 19.7% weight loss in a Phase II trial as per a readout in February 2026, which is more than injectable Wegovy achieves.
