Sanofi, a leading pharmaceutical company, has recently collaborated with AI specialist BioMap to accelerate drug discovery for biotherapeutics. This partnership aims to utilize BioMap’s AI platform in combination with Sanofi’s expertise to develop cutting-edge AI modules for biotherapeutic drug discovery. The collaboration is expected to be a significant boost for the field of AI in drug discovery and has the potential to be worth over $1 billion.
Traditional AI methods often require large amounts of labeled data to make accurate predictions. However, BioMap’s unique approach allows for superior prediction from limited data in various therapeutic areas, including immunology, neurology, oncology, and rare diseases. By utilizing existing data sets from public and private sources, BioMap has built a biological map of proteins to inform their foundational models. This, along with automation and integrated workflows to enhance data collection, allows for the accelerated process of hit discovery and lead optimization.
Under the terms of the agreement, BioMap will receive an upfront payment of $10 million and could potentially earn over $1 billion based on the achievement of pre-clinical development, clinical development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. This significant investment reflects the confidence Sanofi has in the potential of AI-driven drug discovery.
Matt Truppo, Global Head of Research Platforms at Sanofi, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating that by combining Sanofi’s proprietary data sets, digital infrastructure, AI capabilities, and drug development expertise with BioMap’s protein large language models and deep understanding of AI, they can optimize the discovery and development of breakthrough biotherapeutics.
This collaboration comes shortly after Sanofi’s agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals to co-develop and co-commercialize a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, demonstrating the company’s commitment to advancing innovative therapies. Sanofi has also partnered with Janssen Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize an experimental vaccine candidate for extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli.
The collaboration between Sanofi and BioMap represents a significant step forward in accelerating drug discovery for biotherapeutics. By harnessing the power of AI and leveraging BioMap’s expertise, the development of breakthrough treatments in various therapeutic areas could be expedited. With the potential value of over $1 billion, this collaboration highlights the growing importance of AI in the pharmaceutical industry.
