Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund and venture firm S32 have co-led a $37.3M Series B for Faro AI, which builds agentic software for clinical development.
The startup’s platform puts autonomous agents to work on trial logistics that have long resisted automation: drafting protocols, choosing sites, planning patient enrollment and tracking timelines. Faro says it now serves six of the world’s ten largest pharmaceutical companies.
Existing backers General Catalyst, Northpond Ventures, Polaris Partners, PTX Capital and Zetta joined the round, along with new investor Ankona Capital. The funding is a bet that AI agents can roughly halve clinical trial timelines, a goal Endpoints News examined in its coverage of the raise.
Trial design and execution remain a major cost driver in drug development, with many programs losing years to slow enrollment and protocol revisions. Agentic tools that take over planning and coordination work are a growing focus for pharma, and Faro’s customer list suggests the approach is moving from pilot to production.
The Series B follows a wave of funding into clinical operations AI, as sponsors look for software that can cut both time and spend without adding headcount.
