Key Highlights
- AI-powered proteome mining: ProFound Therapeutics leverages its ProFoundry™ AI platform to identify novel drug targets hidden in the expanded human proteome, enabling breakthrough therapies in cardiovascular disease.
- $25M upfront, up to $750M per target: Novartis partners with ProFound to develop first-in-class medicines using AI to unlock previously undruggable biology.
- Accelerating innovation in cardiology: This AI-centric collaboration could reshape cardiovascular drug pipelines by going beyond traditional target discovery.
AI Meets Proteomics: A New Paradigm in Cardiovascular Discovery
In a bold step toward AI-enabled medicine, ProFound Therapeutics has announced a multi-year strategic collaboration with Novartis focused on discovering novel cardiovascular therapies. At the heart of this partnership is ProFound’s ProFoundry™ Platform, which applies advanced AI and multi-omics integration to scan the expanded human proteome—uncovering proteins that conventional methods miss. This AI-centric approach offers unprecedented access to unexplored biological mechanisms with therapeutic potential.
ProFoundry™ Platform: AI Unlocks the Hidden Human Proteome
The ProFoundry™ Platform combines cutting-edge protein detection with AI-driven data modeling to identify and validate novel proteins and targets. It sifts through tens of thousands of undiscovered proteins using machine learning models trained on structural, functional, and interaction data—creating a new frontier for drug discovery. In cardiovascular disease, where traditional targets are often exhausted, AI allows researchers to discover uncharted pathways to treat disease at its root cause.
Deal Terms Reflect Big Bet on AI Biology
Under the four-year agreement, Novartis will pay ProFound $25 million in upfront and near-term milestones. Each target pursued under the partnership could yield up to $750 million in downstream development and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties. The scale of the deal reflects Big Pharma’s growing confidence in AI-powered platforms to deliver high-value, first-in-class drug assets at speed and scale.
AI-Powered Therapeutics to Address a Global Cardiovascular Crisis
Cardiovascular disease remains the world’s leading cause of death, yet drug discovery in the space has stagnated. With AI unlocking thousands of previously unrecognized proteins relevant to cardiovascular health, ProFound and Novartis aim to reinvigorate this space. The collaboration brings together ProFound’s AI engine and Novartis’ global development power—positioning the alliance to deliver transformative therapies where conventional discovery has failed.
About ProFound Therapeutics, founded in 2020 by Flagship Pioneering, is leveraging its cutting-edge ProFoundry™ Platform—a unique integration of AI-driven proteomics, ribosome sequencing, and high-throughput validation—to uncover and characterize thousands of previously unrecognized proteins from the expanded human proteome. By harnessing these hidden biological insights, ProFound aims to discover first-in-class targets and develop transformative therapies across multiple disease areas, including cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Learn more about their pioneering efforts at www.profoundtx.com.
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