Seattle-based Synthesize Bio announced its launch backed by a $10 million seed round led by Madrona, focusing on generative AI biological foundation models for improving drug discovery and design. Their first model, Generate Expression Model-1 (GEM-1), is described in a preprint illustrating capabilities to predict gene expression and therapy responses, streamlining target identification and clinical trial design. The company aims to develop additional models to empower biopharma and researchers with richer predictive tools for high-confidence drug development decisions.