Venomics AI
AI-Accelerated Drug Discovery from Venoms

Venoms don't kill.
They target.
So do drugs.

India holds the world’s most untapped venom library. We’re decoding it with AI.

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Why Venomics AI

Precision biology, accelerated by AI

01
20M+ unique bioactive peptides

Nature’s largest precision library

Millions of venom-derived molecules evolved to hit biological targets with high potency and selectivity.

02
100+ disease-relevant targets

AI-powered discovery

We combine venomics, multi-omics, machine learning, and high-throughput screening to identify therapeutic leads.

03
700M years of evolution

Built from India, for the world

Anchored in India’s extraordinary venom biodiversity and deep toxinology expertise.

Thesis

"Venom peptides don't destroy.
They Bind, Block, Modulate"

Evolution had a 700M-year head start. We're catching up.

Venoms are among nature’s most powerful molecular innovation systems. Across hundreds of millions of years, venomous animals have evolved molecules that act on the nervous system, cardiovascular system, immune system, metabolism, coagulation, and cellular signalling.

These molecules are valuable because they are:

Potent
Act at very low concentrations.
Selective
Distinguish between closely related biological targets.
Structurally Constrained
Chemically stable and resistant to degradation.
Biologically Validated
Optimized by evolution to work in living systems.
Underexplored
A library larger than all synthetic chemistry, waiting.
The Precedent

This is not science fiction. Venom-derived drugs already exist.

Several important medicines were discovered from, or inspired by, venom and venom-associated molecules. These examples show that venom biology can produce clinically validated therapeutic mechanisms.

FDA Approved 🐚

Ziconotide (Prialt)

Derived from cone snail Conus magus toxin ω-conotoxin. A pioneering non-opioid analgesic for severe chronic pain.

POTENCY: 1,000× Morphine
TARGET MARKET: ~$70B (Pain)

Conus magus · FDA Approved 2004

FDA Approved 🦎

Exenatide (Byetta)

Based on exendin-4 from Gila monster Heloderma suspectum saliva. The foundational GLP-1 receptor agonist for type 2 diabetes.

PEAK SALES: $1.2B / year
CLASS VALUE: $20B+

Heloderma suspectum · FDA Approved 2005

FDA Approved 🐍

Captopril

Inspired by bradykinin-potentiating peptides in Brazilian pit viper Bothrops jararaca venom. The first ACE inhibitor to hit the market.

PEAK SALES: $1.6B / year
CLASS VALUE: $30B+

Bothrops jararaca · FDA Approved 1981

Venomics AI is industrializing this logic: moving from one-off discoveries to a scalable discovery engine.

Cone snail toxins pain therapeutics Gila monster saliva Exenatide / Byetta (diabetes) Brazilian pit viper Captopril (ACE inhibitor) Tarantula peptides chronic pain Sea anemone toxins autoimmune diseases Black mamba proteins analgesics Cone snail toxins pain therapeutics Gila monster saliva Exenatide / Byetta (diabetes) Brazilian pit viper Captopril (ACE inhibitor) Tarantula peptides chronic pain Sea anemone toxins autoimmune diseases Black mamba proteins analgesics
Therapeutic Focus

What Venomics AI is targeting

Five disease areas where venom biology offers transformative therapeutic potential.

Antimicrobial Resistance

Drug-resistant infections are outpacing the discovery of new antibiotics. Venom-derived peptides offer a rich source of molecules that can disrupt microbial membranes, modulate host defence, and reveal new antimicrobial mechanisms.

Venomics AI Focus

Discovering and engineering venom-derived antimicrobial candidates against resistant pathogens.

Diabetes & Weight Loss

Metabolic disease is one of the largest therapeutic markets in the world. Venom-associated molecules have already contributed to incretin biology and GLP-1-based therapeutics.

Venomics AI Focus

Identifying molecules that regulate appetite, glucose homeostasis, insulin secretion, energy balance, and metabolic signalling.

Senescence & Ageing Biology

Cellular senescence contributes to chronic inflammation, tissue dysfunction, fibrosis, cancer progression, and ageing-associated disease. Venom molecules can selectively modulate cell signalling, stress responses, survival pathways, and immune interactions.

Venomics AI Focus

Discovering molecules that help detect, modulate, or eliminate pathological senescent cells.

Ion Channels & Pain

Ion channels are central to pain, neurology, cardiac function, and cellular excitability. Venoms are among the richest natural sources of ion-channel modulators, especially peptide toxins with high potency and selectivity.

Venomics AI Focus

Targeting voltage-gated sodium, potassium, calcium, and other ion channels for pain, neurology, and related indications.

Cancer

Cancer cells depend on altered signalling, metabolism, membrane composition, immune evasion, and tumour-specific vulnerabilities. Venom-derived molecules can interact with receptors, ion channels, membranes, and tumour-associated pathways.

Venomics AI Focus

Developing venom-inspired molecules for tumour targeting, cytotoxicity, imaging, and precision oncology.

Our Platform

The Venomics AI Discovery Engine

From raw venom to therapeutic candidate — five integrated stages of discovery.

01
Venom Bank
Build
02
Venom Atlas
Decode
03
Venom LLM
Predict
04
Venomics Library
Screen
05
Optimize
Translate
Venom Bank
Step 01 Build

Venom Bank

A curated repository of animal venoms linked to species identity, geography, ecology, and biological context.

Venom Atlas
Step 02 Decode

Venom Atlas

A multi-omics map connecting venom composition, toxin sequences, structure, bioactivity, and disease relevance.

Venom LLM
Step 03 Predict

Venom LLM The AI core

A purpose-built AI system trained to infer toxin function, target selectivity, and therapeutic potential from biological data.

Venomics Library
Step 04 Screen

Venomics Library

A growing collection of natural toxins and synthetic analogues tested against disease-relevant targets.

Optimize Therapeutic Leads
Step 05 Translate

Optimize Therapeutic Leads From molecule to medicine

AI-guided engineering, pharmacology, and translational validation to convert venom molecules into drug candidates.

Strategic Advantage

Why India?

India is one of the world's most important venom biodiversity hotspots, but its venom-derived therapeutic potential remains largely untapped.

Venomics AI is uniquely positioned at the intersection of

Biodiversity

Access to extraordinary venomous animal diversity across the Indian subcontinent.

Scientific Expertise

Deep toxinology, evolutionary biology, venom pharmacology, and translational research experience.

AI Infrastructure

Modern computational tools for sequence analysis, molecular design, target prediction, and lead prioritisation.

Therapeutic Need

A region with major unmet needs in infectious disease, metabolic disease, cancer, pain, and neglected conditions.

The opportunity is to build the world's leading venom biodiscovery platform from India.

Capabilities

Capabilities Across the Discovery Stack

From field collection to clinical translation — an integrated set of capabilities that covers every stage of venom-derived drug discovery.

Venom Biodiversity

Field ecology, specimen provenance, venom collection, and biodiversity mapping.

Multi-omics

Proteomics, transcriptomics, peptide sequencing, toxin annotation, and comparative venomics.

AI & Molecular Design

Machine learning for target prediction, sequence-function modelling, prioritisation, and molecule generation.

High-throughput Screening

Functional screening against ion channels, receptors, enzymes, cells, and disease-relevant assays.

Therapeutic Engineering

Peptide optimisation, antibody discovery, small-molecule discovery, and developability assessment.

Translation & Partnerships

Academic, clinical, biotech, pharma, and investor partnerships to move candidates toward development.

The Founders

Meet the minds behind the mission

A multidisciplinary team spanning toxinology, computational biology, and machine learning.

Prof. Kartik Sunagar
Prof. Kartik Sunagar
Founder, Director
Professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru

An evolutionary biologist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Prof. Sunagar has built one of India’s leading venom research programs. His work spans venom evolution, snakebite therapeutics, antibody discovery, small-molecule inhibitors, and the translational use of venom biology for medicine.

97Publications
6,222Citations
39h-index
71i10-index
36Journals
Dr. Vinay Prabhu
Dr. Vinay Prabhu
Co-founder, CTO
PhD, Electrical & Computer Engineering Carnegie Mellon University MSEE · IIT Madras

Dr. Prabhu brings deep expertise in machine learning, large-scale AI systems, and computational biology. At Venomics AI, he leads the development of AI platforms that convert venom datasets into therapeutic insights and drug discovery programs.

42Publications
4,715Citations
13h-index
19i10-index
XJournals
Scientific Foundation

Built on peer-reviewed science

Our platform builds on years of peer-reviewed research in venom biology, toxin pharmacology, and snakebite therapeutics — a selection of which is below.

Field Notes

Dispatches from the Venom Detective

Stories from Prof. Kartik Sunagar on venom biology, snakebite, evolution, and the adventures that connect them.

Get In Touch

Let's build the future of medicine together

Whether you're an investor, partner, scientist, or patient advocate, we want to hear from you.

Direct contact info [at] venomics.ai

Partnerships, licensing, investor conversations, media, and scientific collaborations.

Location

No 33, 4th Floor, 1st Main, Ganganagar Gramatana, HMT, R T Nagar, Bengaluru 560032, Karnataka, India

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