[Byte Splits Off AI Pharmaceutical Unit with $1 Billion Valuation, Plans $200 Million First-Round Financing in Shanghai and Assembles Star-Studded Advisory Team] According to monitoring by Beating, ByteDance's AI pharmaceutical business line has initiated a spin-off and independent financing. The new company is valued at approximately $1 billion, with the first-round financing scale nearing $200 million, and it is set to be based in Shanghai. After the spin-off, ByteDance will retain a controlling stake in the new entity. The core AI pharmaceutical team, core algorithms, technology platform, and existing early-stage drug pipeline assets will be fully integrated into the new company. The new company will be led by ByteDance's AI pharmaceutical team, established in 2021, with Liu Kai, former Managing Director of Volcanic Stone Investment, as the head. Liu Kai's 50-person team is distributed across Shanghai, Singapore, and San Jose, USA. To align with the development patterns of biotechnology, the new company has introduced a star-studded scientific advisory board, including industry experts such as Liu Yongjun, former President of Innovent Biologics, and Ji Ma, former Chief Scientist at Amgen, covering the entire chain from target validation to clinical development. In terms of technological development, the team released the molecular structure prediction models Protenix and Seedfold in 2025, which were iterated to Protenix-v1/v2 in 2026, alongside the launch of the protein binder design tool PXDesign. During the drug pipeline validation phase, the team built the AI pharmaceutical platform Anew Labs and, at the American Association of Immunologists Annual Meeting in April 2026, disclosed the IL-17 small molecule project. This project achieved a global first by using small molecules to block three dimers (AA/AF/FF) of the IL-17 family. Post-spin-off, the new company will gain greater flexibility in decision-making, enabling it to better attract top talent and advance research and development in line with biotechnology norms. After the spin-off, the new company will continue to receive foundational computing power support from Volcano Engine. The investors for the first round of financing have not yet been finalized, but several existing ByteDance shareholders and leading domestic USD funds are reportedly on the contact list. [Original Link]