RESEARCH
PR Newswire | January 08, 2024
Isomorphic Labs, a digital biology company with a mission to redefine drug discovery using the power of artificial intelligence, today announced that it has entered into a strategic research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. This marks Isomorphic Labs' first pharmaceutical partnership.
Under the terms of the agreement, Isomorphic Labs will partner with Lilly to discover small molecule therapeutics against multiple targets and will receive an upfront cash payment of $45 million. Isomorphic Labs is eligible to receive up to $1.7 billion in performance-based milestone payments, excluding the upfront payment and any subsequent tiered royalties of up to low double digits on net sales.
"We're thrilled to embark on this partnership and apply our proprietary technology platform, the next generation of AlphaFold, and access to massive computing power to Lilly's development programs," said Demis Hassabis, CEO and founder of Isomorphic Labs. "The focus we share on advancing groundbreaking drug design approaches and appreciation of state-of-the-art science makes this partnership particularly compelling."
Isomorphic Labs operates autonomously within Alphabet, with its own dedicated resources and exclusive focus on the application of AI to drug discovery. The company is reimagining the entire drug discovery process from first principles with an AI-first approach, working to build powerful new predictive and generative models of biological phenomena to anticipate how drugs will perform and design novel molecules.
Building on the success of AlphaFold and working in collaboration with Google DeepMind, Isomorphic Labs has made remarkable progress in developing the Next Generation of AlphaFold. This new iteration of AlphaFold expands beyond proteins to include small molecules and nucleic acids. Through deep integration of this next generation AlphaFold with other breakthrough AI models developed at Isomorphic Labs, the company is able to better understand the underlying biological mechanisms of drug targets, and rationally design novel therapeutics.
ABOUT ISOMORPHIC LABS
Isomorphic Labs is an autonomous subsidiary of Alphabet that was launched from Alphabet's DeepMind in 2021 to build on the success of AlphaFold, the company's groundbreaking work in protein folding. That work was heralded as the 'Breakthrough of the Year' by Science and 'Method of the Year' by Nature in 2021. Based in London and now with a second location in Lausanne, Switzerland, Isomorphic Labs was founded and is led by AI pioneer Demis Hassabis, who also co-founded and leads Google DeepMind. As pioneers in digital biology, the company's mission is to use AI to accelerate drug discovery and ultimately find cures for some of humanity's most devastating diseases. Using its AI-first approach to drug discovery and biology, the company's ambition is to advance a new era of medical breakthroughs.
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PHARMA TECH
PR Newswire | January 24, 2024
IDBS announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Massachusetts-based PharmaEssentia Innovation Research Center (PIRC) on its Polar platform to help digitize data management and facilitate collaboration between the company's global research and development (R&D) teams.
The Polar platform will provide PIRC, the newly established U.S. hub of PharmaEssentia's R&D efforts, the ability to electronically collaborate with its team headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, who have traditionally recorded experimental data on paper.
"The IDBS Polar platform provides superior functionality beyond traditional Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) offerings, backed up by our broad customer base and customer support, as well as the ability to support languages like Mandarin," said Pietro Forgione, General Manager at IDBS. "We are proud to help PIRC better capture, structure and interrogate their key data from a single source of truth, thereby making their collaboration more efficient."
"We are looking forward to partnering with IDBS, not only to implement the Polar platform to help us manage our data more efficiently and to more seamlessly collaborate with our R&D team in Taipei, but also to work together to further explore ways to bring our innovative therapeutics to market faster," said Lih-Ling Lin, Ph.D., PIRC Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, PharmaEssentia.
About IDBS
IDBS helps BioPharmaceutical organizations accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of the next generation of life-changing therapies that advance human health worldwide. From lab through manufacturing, IDBS leverages its 30+ years of experience working with a diverse list of customers – including 18 of the top 20 global BioPharma companies – and deep expertise in scientific informatics and process data management to tackle today's most complex challenges.
Known for its signature IDBS E-WorkBook product, IDBS has extended solutions across the entire value chain for BioPharma Lifecycle Management (BPLM). Built on analytics-centric and cloud-native technology, IDBS Polar and IDBS PIMS platforms are powered by a digital data backbone to drive faster and smarter decisions in drug development and across the supply chain.
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PHARMA TECH
PR Newswire | January 09, 2024
Flagship Pioneering, the bioplatform innovation company, and Samsung today announced a collaboration aimed at fostering cutting-edge biopharmaceutical innovation poised to transform the world of healthcare through groundbreaking advancements in translational science and medicine.
Through this collaboration, Samsung will work alongside Flagship-founded companies, leveraging Samsung's leading technologies and capabilities to accelerate first and best-in-class therapies. The newly formed strategic partnership is an expansion of the ongoing cooperation between Samsung and Flagship. The collaboration between Samsung and Flagship leverages the expertise of both organizations in the areas of life science technology, artificial intelligence, and CDMO services, and extends across Flagship's ecosystem of companies.
Key Highlights of the Collaboration:
Revolutionary Technology: The collaboration will leverage state-of-the-art technology including artificial intelligence, translational medicine, access to high quality clinical samples and Samsung's clinical trials infrastructure, and investment by Samsung in Flagship-founded companies.
Shared Vision: Flagship Pioneering and Samsung share a common vision of transforming conventional drug discovery and development approaches to help bring new targeted therapeutic solutions to patients. The collaboration is driven by a commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the bio-pharmaceutical industry.
"This collaboration represents a significant milestone in the pursuit of innovation and scientific excellence," said Stephen Berenson, Managing Partner, Flagship Pioneering. "As partners, we will bring together Flagship Pioneering's unparalleled expertise in inventing and developing revolutionary bioplatform companies with Samsung's strategic capabilities to reshape and empower the bio-pharmaceutical landscape, ultimately resulting in bigger leaps for patient care."
"This newly formed collaboration is an important evolution of the ongoing relationship between two companies," said Jaywoo Kim, executive vice president, Samsung C&T. "We look forward to seeing the accelerating effect of Samsung's various technical expertise and extensive commercial capabilities on the future innovations Flagship and its ecosystem of companies will bring to market."
About Flagship Pioneering:
Flagship Pioneering is a biotechnology company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $70 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $3.6 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $27 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions.
About Samsung C&T:
Samsung C&T Corporation, a dynamic player in industries ranging from construction, trading, fashion and resorts, is actively expanding its portfolio with strategic investments in the biopharmaceutical industry. Since its investing in Samsung Biologics and Bioepis, Samsung Biologics' CDMO production capacity has grown to over 600 kilo liters and contribute greatly to the stabilization of the biopharmaceutical supply chain. In addition, Samsung Bioepis has improved the accessibility of many patients around the world by successfully launching seven biosimilar products. Samsung C&T will continue investment in innovative technologies and businesses that contribute to 'improving quality of life' in various areas of bio & healthcare.
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