XtalPi has formalised a partnership with Dong-A ST, a South Korean pharmaceutical company, to advance research and development in immunology and inflammation therapies.
The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on discovering new treatments using XtalPi’s advanced drug discovery platform. This platform combines artificial intelligence (AI), quantum physics, and automated robotics.
The collaboration will focus on identifying and developing first-in-class or best-in-class drug candidates.
Dong-A ST research and development (R&D) head Jae-Hong Park said: “This collaboration marks a pivotal step in expanding Dong-A ST’s R&D capabilities.
“By leveraging synergies with XtalPi’s AI platform, we expect to accelerate the development of next-generation treatments for immune and inflammatory diseases.”
XtalPi’s platform is designed to expedite the drug discovery process by leveraging AI for molecule design, using quantum physics simulations for predicting drug-target interactions, and integrating robotic systems for chemical synthesis and experimental validation.
Dong-A ST will contribute its expertise in immunology and inflammation and participate actively in validating candidate drugs, testing for efficacy and safety, and developing preclinical and clinical strategies.
The company also intends to explore pipeline expansion into areas beyond small molecule therapeutics, including targeted protein degradation (TPD), biologics, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and gene therapies.
XtalPi drug discovery senior vice president John Wang said: “The combination of Dong-A ST’s extensive expertise and XtalPi’s proven AI-robotics platform is well-positioned to translate scientific innovation into competitive precision medicines.
“Together, we aim to rapidly discover and rigorously validate novel drug candidates across multiple modalities to unlock unique market opportunities, and deliver transformative therapies for global patients.”
Both companies maintain innovation offices in Boston, US, which is expected to aid in efficient collaboration. This geographic proximity is expected to enhance communication and coordination throughout the drug discovery process.
In a related development, XtalPi recently announced a partnership with DoveTree Medicines focused on AI-driven drug discovery. This collaboration could amount to $5.99bn, marking one of the largest investments in AI- and robotics-based pharmaceutical research.
DoveTree has secured exclusive rights to develop and commercialise new therapeutics from this partnership, with XtalPi having received an initial payment of $51m. The deal includes potential additional payments linked to developmental milestones and tiered royalties.
