When we last spoke with Reed Johnson at TechCrunch Disrupt nearly three years ago, his firm Yosemite was still finding its footing after the post-pandemic crash that had wiped out a significant chunk of the biotech market. Now, Yosemite has grown to a team of 17 people, and the cluster of blockbuster drugs it's working on are all nearing the end of their patent protection periods, creating new opportunities for the company.
That growth is part of a broader trend in which AI has become an increasingly important aspect of Yosemite's work. "I didn't expect Yosemite to be moving this fast," said Johnson, who was joined by co-founder Tom Cohan at a recent event where they discussed their plans for the future. "But as we've gotten more comfortable with AI, I think it's become really clear that it's going to play a huge role in what we're doing here."
The implications of this shift are far-reaching, and Yosemite is poised to take advantage of new funding opportunities and partnerships that will help it capitalize on its growing presence in the biotech industry. With a team of 17 people working at Yosemite, the company is well-positioned to scale quickly as the market continues to evolve and AI becomes an increasingly important tool for researchers and developers alike.