Insitro Enters Discovery Collaboration with BMS for Rare Neurodegenerative Diseases

Rare Daily Staff

Insitro, a machine-learning driven drug discovery and development company, said that it has entered into a five-year, discovery collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb for $50 million upfront focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.

Under the collaboration, Insitro will apply its proprietary platform to create induced pluripotent stem cell derived disease models for ALS and FTD. The platform applies machine learning, human genetics, and functional genomics to generate and optimize predictive in vitro models and drive therapeutic discovery and development.

Insitro’s platform will provide insights into disease progression, identify coherent patient segments, and discover candidate targets. Based on these insights, Insitro will apply its machine-learning-enabled therapeutics discovery capabilities to advance programs. Bristol Myers Squibb will have the option to select a number of targets identified by Insitro to advance through clinical development and commercialization.

“Neurodegenerative disorders like ALS and FTD have historically been a challenging therapeutic area, with no disease modifying treatments today,” said Daphne Koller, founder and CEO of Insitro. “We are excited to partner with Bristol Myers Squibb and its world-class neuroscience leaders, who share our vision of leveraging human genetics, machine learning, and high-throughput biology and chemistry in order to identify and provide new treatments for patients suffering from these devastating diseases.”

In addition to the upfront payment, Insitro will be eligible to receive an additional $20 million in near-term operational milestones and up to an aggregate of more than $2 billion in discovery, development, regulatory and commercial milestones in addition to royalty payments on net product sales.

Bristol Myers Squibb will be responsible for clinical development as well as regulatory submissions and commercialization activities.

Photo: Daphne Koller, founder and CEO of Insitro