--- title: "Bitwise files for an AI drug discovery ETF its crypto-index manager would help run" url: "https://etf.net/news/bitwise-ai-drug-discovery-etf-filed-2026-11-09" published_at: "2026-11-09T13:03:14.267Z" updated_at: "2026-11-09T13:03:14.267Z" byline: "ETF.net Research" --- # Bitwise files for an AI drug discovery ETF its crypto-index manager would help run The Nov. 6 prospectus leaves the ticker and the fee blank, and the trust cannot sell shares until the filing is effective, which it proposes for 75 days later, on Jan. 20, 2027, not a day the shares are set to trade. By ETF.net Research. Published Nov 9, 2026. Bitwise Funds Trust filed Friday for an actively managed stock fund, the Bitwise AI Drug Discovery ETF, and named Jennifer Thornton and Daniela Padilla to run it. The prospectus describes Thornton as senior index fund portfolio manager at Bitwise, responsible for the firm's suite of crypto index products. Padilla joined Bitwise in 2021. The [filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1928561/000121390026116969/ea0311104-01_485apos.htm), dated Nov. 6, is marked subject to completion. It leaves the NYSE Arca ticker blank. The trust may not sell the shares until the registration statement is effective. This is the third AI prospectus from the trust since August. It filed on Aug. 31 for a Bitwise AI Cyber Defense ETF and on Sept. 18 for a Bitwise AI Bond ETF. Both left the ticker blank and named Thornton and Padilla. The new fund would seek capital appreciation, and it would not seek to track an index. Under normal market conditions it would invest at least **80%** of its net assets in stocks of companies the adviser, Bitwise Investment Manager, defines as AI drug discovery companies. Up to 20% could sit outside that definition, in firms building AI models for drug discovery or firms that have agreed to discover or develop drug candidates with a company on the list. A company makes that list only if it passes every screen, and failing any one drops it. It has to fall in one of three Global Industry Classification Standard industries: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or life sciences tools and services. It also has to have said, in a public filing with a U.S. governmental agency, that the successful use of artificial intelligence to discover or design therapeutic candidates is critical to its economic success. And it has to be what the prospectus calls an acknowledged leader in that work. Missing either test drops the company. An acknowledged leader owns, has co-developed or has licensed a therapeutic drug candidate whose discovery or design has been publicly attributed to AI, in a press release, a regulatory filing, a peer-reviewed paper, a company website or a public statement. The candidate has to be in Phase I, Phase II or Phase III Food and Drug Administration clinical trials, have had an investigational new drug application cleared by the FDA, or already be approved by the FDA. A company outside FDA oversight can qualify if its own regulator has approved the candidate, is overseeing its trials, or has approved a clinical trial application or the equivalent. The fund expects to principally invest in a range of common stocks the prospectus prints as a blank, and those companies can be of any size. It would be non-diversified. The prospectus says that can mean fewer holdings than many other funds, so a decline in one security can affect the fund more than it would if the money were spread across more companies. It would concentrate in health care, which the prospectus defines as more than 25% of net assets in that sector. It could put up to 15% of its assets in Chinese issuers listed in Hong Kong. The prospectus lists this among the risks. "Faster identification or design of a candidate does not necessarily shorten clinical development, reduce total development costs or improve patient outcomes." The management fee and total annual operating expenses are printed as 0.__%, with the digits still blank. The cover leaves the month and day of the prospectus date blank and prints the year as 2027. Thornton and Padilla are described as starting at the fund's inception, with that date left the same way. The filing proposes to become effective 75 days after Nov. 6, which is **Jan. 20, 2027**. That is when the trust could be allowed to sell shares. The prospectus does not set a day for the shares to list or trade. Tema's Tema Healthcare AI ETF, HLTH, already invests in companies using AI across drug discovery, diagnostics, clinical application and patient care. [Tema](https://temaetfs.com/hlth) lists a July 20 inception, a 0.75% expense ratio and $11.3 million in assets as of Nov. 6. Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/bitwise-ai-drug-discovery-etf-filed-2026-11-09. Please cite the page URL.