Mendra, founded by former BioMarin executives, secured $82 million in Series A financing to acquire and develop underutilized rare-disease assets and accelerate development with AI-enabled capabilities. The round was co-led by OrbiMed, 8VC and 5AM Ventures and will fund asset acquisition, clinical development and global commercialization efforts. CEO Joshua Grass said the company will target molecules that large firms or academics cannot advance and will deploy AI to accelerate patient identification, trial enrollment, and go-to-market planning. Mendra’s approach emphasizes portfolio building through acquisitions rather than in-house discovery and positions AI as central to shortening timelines across development and access.