Weekly TechBio News š¤¹
Latest Trends: AbbVie, LG AI Research, Linnaeus Bioscience Inc et al, Conduit Pharmaceuticals Inc, Pioneer Fund, Netabolics AI, Virtonomy GmbH, Receptor AI and many more
Hello everyone š¤ and welcome back to another edition of MetaphysicalCells. Today I am going to talk about:
Linnaeus Bioscience Inc et al (University of California San Diego and the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research at the Seattle Childrenās Research Institute),
Pioneer Fund (Abalone AI, Alga Biosciences, Bactobio, Biobot analytics, Birch Biosciences, C16 Biosciences, Catena Biosciences, Cradle, Engage bio, First Quadrant, Forcyte Biotechnologies, Granza Bio, Neuro Bionics, Parcel Bio, Persephone Biosciences, Rosebud Biosciences, Talus Bio),
Receptor AI and many more.
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š§© AbbVie Inc
AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. It is ranked sixth on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 74, and rank 89 on the 2024 list. Right now AbbVie is channeling substantial resources into AI-driven personalized medicine, in order to analyze the intricate biological data to identify new therapeutic targets that align with the unique needs of individual patients.
To speed up the pace of drug discovery AbbVie developed the AbbVie R&D Convergence Hub (ARCH), which is an industry-leading analytics platform that helps them connect the dots of data like never before. Considered one of the largest data-driven initiatives in the biopharma industry, ARCH uses cutting-edge AI and ML technologies to centralize and connect data from more than 200 internal and external sources, enabling scientists to access and collaborate on over 2 billion points of knowledge. With ARCH AbbVie can: find new drug targets, select clinical trial sites, decentralize clinical trials with DHT (digital health technology, DHT, like biosensors and wearables to collect real-world data), develop precision medicine, optimize drug design and create regulatory submissions.
AbbVie š¹
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On top of that, AbbVie has so far established the following AI Drug Discovery collaborations or acquisitions:
šø Nimble Therapeutics Inc
On December 13, 2024, AbbVie bought Roche spinout Nimble Therapeutics for $200M. Nimble Therapeutics is a biotechnology company inspired by Natureās elegance and turbocharged by a paradigm-shifting peptide discovery and development engine, and begun operating as a standalone business after spinning out from F. Hoffmann La Roche in 2019 with $10M in financing.
šø Unlearn.AI Inc
On July 30, 2024, Unlearn, an AI company revolutionizing clinical research with computational models of patients called digital twins, announced one poster session at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Philadelphia (āAssessment of AI-generated digital twin methodology on reduction of treatment effect variance and potential clinical trial sample size saving using a phase 2 trial dataset from patients with Alzheimerās diseaseā) together with AbbVie (Unlearn Presents Studies on AI-powered Clinical Trials with AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2024).
In the poster, Unlearn presented its work using disease-specific AI models called Digital Twin Generators that create digital twins of clinical trial participants. In its work with AbbVie, Unlearn showed how leveraging participantsā digital twins can reduce overall sample sizes by 10-15% when estimating the treatment effect on CDR-SB (Clinical Dementia Rating) at week 96 in a Phase 2 study. Alternatively, digital twins can achieve power gains of up to 7% (from 80% to up to 87%) with CDR-SB.
šø Celsius Therapeutics Inc
On June 27, 2024, AbbVie announced the acquisition of Celsius Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company pioneering new therapies for patients with inflammatory disease (AbbVie Acquires Celsius Therapeutics). Celsius Therapeutics located in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a community of scientists, technologists, clinicians and drug hunters leveraging single-cell RNA sequencing, genomic analysis and AI/ML to develop life-changing medicines for cancer and autoimmune disease patients. Celsius' lead investigational asset is CEL383, a potential first-in-class anti-TREM1 antibody that has completed a Phase 1 clinical study for the treatment of IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease). TREM1 (Triggering Receptor Expressed On Myeloid Cells 1) has been identified as a key disease driver gene in IBD, where it is expressed on inflammatory monocytes and neutrophils. In these cell types and others, TREM1 is upstream of multiple known inflammatory pathways and acts as an amplifier of inflammation. Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie has acquired all Celsiusā equity for $250M in cash, subject to certain customary adjustments.
šø Landos Biopharma Inc
On May 23, 2024, AbbVie announced that it had completed the acquisition of Landos Biopharma, Inc (NASDAQ: LABP) that is utilizing its LANCE Advanced AI platform to discover and develop novel oral therapeutics (AbbVie Completes Acquisition of Landos Biopharma). Landos' lead investigational asset is NX-13, a first-in-class, oral NLRX1 agonist (a member of the NOD-like receptor family), which is currently in Phase 2 for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) (NEXUS study; NCT05785715). NLRX1 regulates immunometabolism and inflammation and its activation may address inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis. With a dual mechanism of action that is anti-inflammatory and facilitates epithelial repair, NX-13 has the potential to offer a novel approach to the treatment of UC and Crohn's disease (CD).
šø Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Inc
On May 14, 2024, AbbVie, Gilgamesh Signed Potential $2B Deal to Develop Neuroplastogens for Psychiatric Disorders. Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie made an upfront payment of $65M and will pledge up to $1.95 billion in option and milestone fees. In return for its investment, AbbVie will be able to work with Gilgamesh on its portfolio of novel therapies for psychiatric indications.
Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage neuroscience biotech developing innovative, best-in-class new chemical entities (NCEs) that target the root causes of neurological diseases, moving away from symptom management towards rapid-acting and long-lasting therapies. By combining deep expertise in medicinal chemistry with AI-powered discovery and translational platforms they accelerate the creation of their novel precision psychiatric therapies (pipeline: psychedelic and novel psychotropic drugs for depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders).
šø Caris Life Science Inc
On January 09, 2024, JPM24: Caris crafts collabs with AbbVie, Flatiron to bring AI-powered genomic database to drug development. Carisāwhich has built not only a massive compendium of clinical and genomic dataādescribed plans to pair its āclinico-genomic databaseā with ConcertAIās huge collection of oncology data to offer a more comprehensive resource to biopharma clients looking to develop new biomarker-specific cancer therapeutics. Then, Caris and ConcertAI (accelerating insights and outcomes for patients through leading RWD, AI technology and scientific expertise) have signed onto a multi-year deal to offer up their databases to support AbbVieās work to develop novel cancer drugs. AbbVie will also be able to tap into its new partnersā clinical networks, AI tools and other tech resources to improve patient enrollment and the overall clinical trial process.
Caris Life Science is a leading next-generation TechBio company and a precision medicine company that through whole-exome DNA sequencing (WES), whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing (WTS) and the application of advanced AI and ML algorithms, has created the large-scale, clinico-genomic database and computing capability needed to analyze and unravel the molecular complexity of disease. On January 16, 2025, Caris Life Sciences announced a strategic and multi-faceted collaboration with Ontada, a business dedicated to oncology real-world evidence, clinical education and point of care technologies (from more than 2 million records), to advance molecular research and cancer care, enhance the healthcare delivery system and ultimately drive precision medicine by supporting life sciences companies in the development of next-gen oncology therapies (Caris Life Sciences Announces a Strategic Collaboration with OntadaĀ® to Advance Oncology Research and the Adoption of Precision Medicine). Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris or its distributor partners provide services in the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets.
šø BigHat Biosciences Inc
On December 6, 2023, AbbVie and BigHat Biosciences announced a research collaboration to discover and develop next-generation therapeutic antibodies in oncology and neuroscience. Working closely with AbbVie, BigHat will utilize its Millinerā¢ platform, a suite of ML technologies integrated with a high-speed wet lab, to guide the design and selection for high quality antibodies for multiple therapeutic targets. BigHat Biosciences also has a collaboration with Janssen Biotech Inc, a Johnson & Johnson company (BigHat Biosciences Enters into Strategic Collaboration to Leverage Machine Learning in Antibody Discovery & Design) and is backed by Section 32, āAndreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Amgen Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb, Quadrille, Grids Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Innovation Endeavors and Gaingels.
šø Anima Biotech Inc
On January 10, 2023, AbbVie paid $42M upfront to work with the Anima Biotech on small molecule mRNA drugs against three āundruggableā targets in oncology and immunology. Anima Biotech is advancing mRNA Lightning, which is a novel platform for the discovery of selective small molecule mRNA drugs and their mechanisms of action, combining high scale phenotypic screening and AI.
šø HotSpot Therapeutics Inc
HotSpot Therapeutics (2017, US) is utilizing its platform, Smart Allosteryā¢, that integrates structure-function, cutting-edge pharmacology, tailored chemistry and deep AI capabilities to systematically uncover drug natural hotspots (novel allosteric medicines). At HotSpot, they are advancing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases with significant unmet need, and they have a discovery collaboration with AbbVie, an opportunity for up to $295M in biobucks for the treatment of multiple autoimmune diseases including SLE, Sjƶgrenās, RA, SSc and myositis. Interferon regulatory factor 5, or IRF5, is a transcription factor involved in a diverse range of biological activities in which it functions as a master regulator of innate immunity. By leveraging Smart Allosteryā¢ platform, at HotSpot they believe they have discovered the first and only small molecule IRF5 inhibitor that binds to a previously unknown allosteric pocket on the protein that is critical for its endogenous regulation. For more about HotSpot and BigHat:
šø AbCellera Biologics Inc
On December 15, 2022, AbbVie and AbCellera inked an antibody discovery deal to develop candidates for up to five targets in several indications (AbCellera Continues Partnership Frenzy with AbbVie Antibody Discovery Pact). AbCellera (Vancouver, Canada, 2012) is an AI-powered therapeutic antibody company, and with their full-stack AI-powered antibody discovery platform they search, decode and analyze natural immune systems to find antibodies that their partners can develop into drugs. They combine proprietary repertoire sequencing technologies with functional data from single B cells to annotate immune repertoires and boost the number of candidates, and they explore large multidimensional data with Celiumā¢, their proprietary antibody visualization software.