insitro vs Verge Genomics (2026)
Both build models of human disease biology from their own data. insitro, founded in 2018 by Daphne Koller, combines more than 20 petabytes of automated cellular experiments with population scale human genetic and clinical data, and runs two engines: Virtual Human for identifying targets and TherML for designing small molecules, oligonucleotides and biologics. Verge Labs, formerly Verge Genomics, works in neurology. Its collection covers 12,000 brain samples from 6,500 patients and 15 million single cell profiles, and in June 2026 it released vBx-1.0, a foundation model that reconstructs a patient's brain molecular state from blood and genetics. insitro covers many diseases and modalities; Verge is specific to the brain.
- Causal target identification across diseases, built on human genetics and large scale cellular experiments.
- TherML, a design engine spanning small molecules, oligonucleotides and biologics.
- Published methods, including the POSH pooled cell painting platform (Nature Communications, 2025).
- A neurology data asset of brain tissue, multiomic and single cell data from thousands of patients.
- vBx-1.0, which estimates brain molecular state from measurements taken in a living patient.
- A published technical report with measured results against baselines.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. insitro and Verge Genomics are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI Health Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Fact | insitro | Verge Genomics |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Drug Discovery AI | Drug Discovery AI |
| Founded | 2018 | 2015 |
| Headquarters | South San Francisco, CA | South San Francisco, California, United States |
| Website | insitro.com | vergelabs.com |
Side by Side
Select any grade to read the note behind it.
Each vendor in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph opens the AI Health Index profile of the vendor: what the product is, who buys it and what it does.
insitro is a South San Francisco AI therapeutics company founded in 2018 by Daphne Koller, built on causal biology. It combines more than 20 petabytes of automated cellular experiments (induced pluripotent stem cells, genome editing, high content phenotyping) with population scale human genetic and clinical data.
Source: AI Health Index, September 2026
Clinical stage biotechnology company now trading as Verge Labs, applying machine learning to human tissue derived multiomic data in neurology. Over a decade it assembled a proprietary collection it describes as 12,000 brain samples across 6,500 patients with paired proteomic, genomic and clinical data, more than 900 frozen brain tissue samples across the major neurodegenerative diseases, and 15 million single cell profiles.
Source: AI Health Index, September 2026
Questions buyers ask
How are insitro and Verge Genomics priced and sold?
Lilly is a modality partner on the liver fat and fibrosis programs, with insitro retaining full global rights.
With Verge Genomics, the platform is not sold as software: the company works through multi year discovery collaborations, and the shape of the terms is public, combining upfront fees, equity, near term payments, milestones on target validation and development, and downstream royalties, with the partner selecting targets and holding an option to license and advance them. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 28, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Which settings and specialties do insitro and Verge Genomics cover?
In insitro's case, the company chooses diseases where it can mine rich clinical data or build tractable cellular models, and TherML covers small molecules, oligonucleotides and complex biologics including multispecific antibodies and T cell engagers. The ophthalmology programs and the biologics work have no published results yet.
For Verge Genomics, the data and the model are built for neurodegenerative disease, with the model trained across five diseases and results reported for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's by brain region, and the company's own clinical experience is in ALS. What the platform does within that scope is also named: target discovery, target characterization, biomarker identification and patient stratification. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 28, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
What evidence is published for insitro and Verge Genomics?
With insitro, a brown adipose tissue study built a machine learning phenotype from UK Biobank MRI in 69,598 people, and knockdown of the prioritized target, BAT-01, cut body weight by 15% over four weeks in obese mice. In ALS, targets from the Virtual Human rescued neurite growth in iPSC derived motor neurons, and the POSH pooled cell painting CRISPR platform was published in Nature Communications in December 2025.
In Verge Genomics' case, the company reports 280 or more novel targets surfaced, an 83 percent preclinical validation rate and two AI discovered drugs reaching clinical candidate stage, and states $1.6 billion in partnerships with top 20 pharmaceutical companies. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified September 28, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Drug Discovery AI page.
Both records were reviewed on this site in September 2026. Verge's move from its own pipeline to a partnered foundation model is recent, so check what an engagement includes.
Ask both how the patient derived data behind their models was consented and how it is governed.