Bits In Bio Weekly - January 14th 2025
Updates From and Around the Bits in Bio Community
📢 Highlights
AMD's $20M Biotech Bet On Absci Takes Aim at Nvidia's BioAI Dominance
UK Biobank's 54,000 Patients Study To Unlock Future of Blood-Based Diagnostics
France-based Bioptimus Gains Support of Marque Bay-Area VC's
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Computing Giant AMD Invests in AI Protein Startup Absci
Chip manufacturer AMD has invested $20M Absci, an AI drug discovery company using generative AI to design therapeutic proteins, as part of its strategy to expand AI chip sales into the biotech sector. This collaboration unites Absci’s AI-enabled platform for biologics discovery with AMD's advanced computing chips to accelerate computationally intensive tasks. The investment underscores AMD’s focus on competing with Nvidia in high-performance AI chip markets, going head to head with their bioNemo platform, with biotech as a growth target. Absci’s platform can screen billions of protein sequences in silico, reducing drug discovery timelines and costs, with the only limit ultimately being compute. This partnership highlights the increasing convergence of AI, biotech, and advanced hardware technologies.
UK Biobank 54,000 Patient Study Hopes To Transform Protein-Based Diagnostics
The largest-ever study of blood proteins, conducted by UK Biobank in partnership with Olink Proteomics, analyzed over 3,200 proteins in samples from 54,000 individuals. This landmark study links protein profiles to diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular conditions, offering unprecedented insights into biomarker discovery and diagnostics. Early findings suggest that specific protein markers could enable earlier and more accurate testing for complex diseases. The study’s scope and scale provide a foundational resource for developing targeted treatments and improving personalized medicine approaches. Researchers aim to integrate these results into clinical tools to refine diagnostics and treatment protocols globally, with partners yet to be announced.
Kleiner Perkins, GV Invest $41M into Bioptimus's ‘'Biology GPT'
Bioptimus has raised $41 million in a Series A funding round to develop its “GPT for biology,” an AI-driven large language model tailored for life sciences research. The funding, led by Kleiner Perkins and GV, will accelerate the development of Bioptimus’ multimodal AI platform, designed to integrate genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic datasets for predictive modeling and drug discovery. Early applications include optimizing enzyme functions and predicting protein structures. The platform aims to reduce time-to-market for therapeutics by integrating disparate datasets into cohesive, actionable insights. Bioptimus joins a growing field of AI-driven biology startups targeting high-impact applications across drug discovery and synthetic biology.
Brain Drug Delivery Challenge The Target of Sanofi and Alloy Therapeutics Partnership
France-based pharma giant Sanofi has entered into a $400 million+ collaboration with Alloy Therapeutics to develop a CNS-targeted antisense drug using Alloy’s proprietary platform. The antisense technology is designed to improve drug potency and facilitate delivery across the blood-brain barrier, addressing challenges in central nervous system drug development. This partnership reflects Sanofi’s renewed focus on antisense R&D, building on the success of Spinraza and similar therapies. The deal includes upfront payments, development milestones, and royalties, with an emphasis on tackling neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet need.
J&J Acquires Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6B to Expand Neuroscience Portfolio
In a $14.6 billion deal announced at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Johnson & Johnson is acquiring Intra-Cellular Therapies, marking the largest biotech M&A since 2023. The acquisition secures Caplyta (lumateperone), a blockbuster drug approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with annual sales of $700 million, projected to grow to $5 billion as new depression indications expand its market. The deal reflects J&J’s strategic emphasis on neuroscience, leveraging Caplyta’s strong growth potential and addressing unmet needs in mental health. J&J plans to integrate Intra-Cellular’s R&D capabilities to fuel its pipeline, particularly in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Novo Nordisk Expands AI Partnership with Valo Health in $4.79B Cardiometabolic Deal
Valo Health has received an expanded partnership with Novo Nordisk, increasing the scope to include up to 20 cardiometabolic drug programs targeting obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The collaboration will leverage Valo’s Opal Computational Platform, designed for predictive drug discovery and development. Novo Nordisk has committed $190 million upfront, with milestone payments potentially reaching $4.6 billion. The partnership aims to accelerate Novo Nordisk’s cardiometabolic pipeline by integrating Valo’s predictive AI and modeling capabilities with Novo Nordisk’s expertise in metabolic diseases. This is one of the largest AI-drug discovery partnerships to date, reflecting the rapid adoption of AI technologies by marquee pharma companies.
AI Drug Pioneer Insilico Hits Clinical, Commercial Milestones
Insilico Medicine continues its efforts in AI-driven drug discovery with two significant milestones. First, the company has licensed a second AI-discovered cancer drug to Menarini Group in a deal valued at up to $550 million, including $55 million in upfront and near-term payments. Second, Insilico announced promising Phase I results for ISM5411, a gut-restricted PHD1/2 inhibitor targeting inflammatory bowel disease, showing dose-dependent efficacy and safety in humans. These milestones underline Insilico’s growing impact on accelerating drug development through its AI platforms PandaOmics and Chemistry42, highlighting the transformative potential of AI in addressing complex diseases.
Major Data Partnership Between Tempus and Genialis Pushes RNA-Based Biomarker Discovery
Tempus has partnered with Genialis to develop RNA-based biomarker algorithms, aiming to improve cancer diagnostics and patient stratification. Tempus’ multimodal dataset of over 50 million de-identified patients will be combined with Genialis’ Supermodel platform to identify RNA signatures that correlate with specific cancer phenotypes. The collaboration is slated to advance precision oncology by optimizing therapeutic interventions for various cancers that are currently either untargetable or lacking effective therapeutics.
PostEra and Pfizer Expand $610M Collaboration to Target ADC Development
Cambridge Mass-based AI medicinal chemistry company PostEra has announced its $610 million collaboration with Pfizer to include the development of Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) using its AI-driven Proton platform. The Proton platform will be applied to optimize ADC payloads, enhancing potency and stability while reducing off-target toxicity. In addition to ADCs, the partnership continues to focus on advancing small molecule programs through the AI Lab initiative. Pfizer’s move to integrate emerging AI tools into its oncology pipeline reflects a hope that the new technology will allow them to meet the growing demand for ADCs in precision cancer therapies.
Merck KGaA Adopts Quris-AI’s Organ-on-Chip Platform for Safety Testing
Merck KGaA has adopted Quris-AI’s Bio-AI platform, based on a validated organ-on-chip platform technology, to improve preclinical drug safety testing. The platform uses AI-driven models to predict organ-specific toxicities, including liver and kidney damage, with high accuracy. This approach aims to reduce reliance on traditional animal testing while accelerating preclinical evaluations. Quris-AI’s technology provides Merck with robust, ethically sound alternatives for safety profiling, aligning with global trends toward predictive and human-relevant preclinical testing, while cementing the Israel-based companies partnership portfolio in the US.
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