Key Highlights
- $20 million upfront with potential for $1 billion+ in milestone payments and tiered royalties, making it one of the most significant AI-driven deals in small molecule drug discovery.
- Collaboration to focus on up to five exclusive drug targets, leveraging Atomwise’s AtomNet® AI platform for structure-based molecular screening and lead optimization.
- Partnership aims to accelerate discovery of novel therapeutics, especially for difficult-to-drug targets, by combining Sanofi’s R&D capabilities with Atomwise’s deep learning technology.
San Francisco — Atomwise, a pioneer in artificial intelligence for small molecule drug discovery, has entered into a strategic, multi-target research collaboration with global pharmaceutical company Sanofi. The partnership aims to accelerate drug discovery through Atomwise’s AI-driven AtomNet® platform and will initially focus on up to five high-value targets.
As part of the agreement, Sanofi will provide $20 million in upfront funding, with potential milestone-based payments totaling more than $1 billion, in addition to tiered royalties on resulting products. The collaboration grants Sanofi exclusive rights to advance and commercialize drug candidates discovered under the partnership.
AI at the Core of Modern Drug Design
Atomwise’s AtomNet® platform applies deep learning to structure-based drug design, enabling rapid and precise virtual screening of a proprietary library of over 3 trillion synthesizable compounds. This approach shifts the drug discovery paradigm from serendipitous to structure-informed search, increasing the odds of finding first-in-class or best-in-class drug candidates.
“Together, we aim at making the drug discovery process more efficient and effective in particular when very limited information is available to support drug design,” said Frank Nestle, Global Head of Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Sanofi. “We are excited to partner with Atomwise, given their leadership in the field of virtual screening and AI-based molecular design.”
Unlocking Challenging Drug Targets
The collaboration will focus on disease-relevant targets that have historically been difficult to drug through traditional discovery approaches. Atomwise’s proven ability to identify potent chemical matter across a wide range of targets— including previously undruggable proteins — is expected to accelerate Sanofi’s pipeline expansion.
“This partnership is continued validation of the important role AI-powered platforms will play in discovering new therapies,” said Abraham Heifets, Co-Founder and CEO of Atomwise. “Our mission is to unlock challenging targets and deliver better medicines, faster.”
About Atomwise AI
Atomwise invented the application of deep learning for structure-based drug design. With more than 270 academic and industry collaborations and a pipeline of 30+ discovery programs, Atomwise is building a proprietary portfolio of therapeutics. The company has raised over $194 million to date from top-tier investors to support its mission of revolutionizing small molecule drug discovery. Learn more at atomwise.com.
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