AI Collaboration to Focus on DMD and Other Rare Diseases

Rare Daily Staff

Insilico Medicine and A2A Pharmaceutics, two companies that harness artificial intelligence to improve the drug discovery process, said they will form a new company called “Consortium.AI” to apply the latest advances in AI to discovery of novel small molecules for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and other rare genetic diseases.

Insilico Medicine applies advances in artificial intelligence to identify disease targets and generate novel chemistry. A2A Pharmaceuticals uses proprietary computational tools including artificial intelligence to design highly selective therapeutics for difficult to drug targets.

The newly formed Consortium.AI will use computationally pre-optimized new drug candidates for targets validated through Insilico’s artificial intelligence system. A2A Pharmaceuticals will assume the management of the new company, provide the development expertise for the newly discovered compounds, and manage the licensing of any compounds the collaboration develops.

“We are pleased to partner with Insilico Medicine, combining our strengths and complementary technologies to accelerate advancement of better therapeutics into the clinic for the patients that need them,” said Elena Diez Cecilia, head of business development at A2A Pharmaceuticals. “Muscular Dystrophy is a debilitating and terminal degenerative condition that causes muscle inflammation and wasting, and there is a huge need for more effective therapies.”

The companies agreed to collaborate on drug discovery programs intended to leverage Insilico’s AI biology and target discovery engine with A2A’s state-of-the-art chemical design expertise in drug development. They said Consortium AI will enable faster and less expensive development of more effective therapeutics.

July 23, 2018
Photo: Elena Diez Cecilia, head of business development at A2A Pharmaceuticals