Owkin spins out AI diagnostics startup Waiv with $33M financing

The Paris-based startup, formerly known as Owkin Dx, will develop artificial intelligence tools designed to identify biomarkers and stratify patients in clinical care and clinical trials. The new company will operate independently while remaining part of Owkin’s broader ecosystem of AI-driven drug discovery and clinical research.

Waiv’s AI diagnostics platform 

Waiv is developing AI-based diagnostics designed to extract biological insights from digital pathology images and clinical data. The technology builds on Owkin’s work in AI-driven digital pathology, where deep learning models analyse routine histology slides to detect patterns associated with molecular biomarkers, disease prognosis, or treatment response. This can help prioritise patients for additional molecular testing, predict clinical outcomes, and support treatment decisions in oncology workflows.

Owkin’s diagnostics division, previously known as Owkin Dx, developed several of these tools before being spun out as Waiv. Among them is RlapsRisk BC, an AI model designed to estimate the risk of relapse in breast cancer patients, helping oncologists determine whether more aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy may be necessary. Another product, MSIntuit CRC, screens colorectal cancer patients for microsatellite instability, a biomarker that can guide immunotherapy use. 

As an independent company, Waiv will now focus on scaling these AI-based tests and bringing them into clinical and pharmaceutical workflows. 

Owkin’s broader strategy

The creation of Waiv is part of Owkin’s broader strategy to build an integrated AI platform. The company, which reached unicorn status in 2021 following a $180 million investment from Sanofi, has positioned itself as a platform combining multimodal patient data, AI modeling, and clinical applications.

A central component of this approach is access to large and diverse biomedical datasets. Owkin has built partnerships with academic hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to develop predictive models that can identify biomarkers. The company has collaborated with several major drugmakers, including Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, and Sanofi, which pushed its valuation above $1 billion.

More recently, Owkin has also begun spinning out specialised companies focused on different parts of the AI-biomedicine stack. A similar case is Bioptimus, launched in 2024 with a $35 million seed round, a funding level comparable to Waiv’s, by researchers from Owkin and former Google DeepMind scientists. The startup is developing what it describes as large “foundation models” that integrate multiple types of biomedical data, from molecular information to tissue-level images, in order to better model biological systems and accelerate scientific discovery.

By separating units such as Waiv into independent companies while maintaining strategic ties, Owkin appears to be building a network of businesses that connect data generation, AI development, and clinical applications. 

Where Waiv fits

Waiv is entering a field where artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to analyse digital pathology slides, predict biomarkers, and support treatment decisions. The same tools are also being positioned as a way to improve clinical trial recruitment by helping drug developers identify patients more efficiently and pre-screen them for relevant biomarkers.

Several companies are already active in the space. Boston-based PathAI works across pathology workflows, biomarker discovery, and clinical trial services, including AI-based molecular phenotype pre-screening from routine hematoxylin-and-eosin staining slides, the most widely used tools in histology and pathology to visualize tissue structure. Paige, now part of Tempus, has developed AI modules for biomarker discovery, therapeutic targeting, and trial design, while Tempus itself combines digital pathology, genomic testing, and clinical trial matching. Ibex Medical Analytics, a company based in Israel, is also expanding its biopharma business beyond clinical diagnostics into biomarker development and trial-efficiency optimisation.

While Waiv is entering a competitive field, it does benefit from Owkin’s existing network of hospital partners and multimodal patient datasets used to train its AI models.