AstraZeneca has signed a deal with a San Francisco-based biotech business Algen Biotechnologies, reports BusinessWire.

Algen Biotechnologies is a biotech company focusing on next-generation therapies using CRISPR gene modulation and AI-driven drug discovery. Founded by Chun-Hao Huang and Christine Du as a spin-out from Nobel Prize laureate Jennifer Doudna’s lab at UC Berkeley, Algen combines deep learning with high-throughput functional genomics to identify novel therapeutic targets. 

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“We’re excited to collaborate with AstraZeneca to bring the power of our AI-driven functional genomics platform to decode complex chronic inflammatory conditions for drug discovery,” says Chun-Hao Huang, CEO & Co-Founder, Algen Biotechnologies. “Together with AstraZeneca’s deep expertise in translational science and clinical development, we aim to uncover new biological insights to accelerate the development of novel therapies alone or in combination to transform patient outcomes.”

The AlgenBrain platform

Under the agreement, Algen will leverage its AlgenBrain platform to drive preclinical drug discovery, with AstraZeneca receiving exclusive rights to develop and commercialize therapies against a defined set of targets identified and selected through the partnership.

AlgenBrain models disease progression by capturing billions of dynamic RNA changes in human, disease-relevant cell types and linking them to functional outcomes and therapeutic index through high-throughput gene modulation. By mapping causal links between gene regulation and disease progression, the platform has the potential to identify novel genes that, when therapeutically targeted, may reverse disease processes. AlgenBrain grounds early discovery in human biology and aims to improve translational accuracy, increase the probability of clinical success and bring more effective therapies to patients.

This collaboration with AstraZeneca is part of a growing shift toward data-driven, biology-first approaches in drug discovery.

“This collaboration with AstraZeneca is part of a growing shift toward data-driven, biology-first approaches in drug discovery,” says Christine Du, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder, Algen Biotechnologies. “AlgenBrain is designed to uncover the most actionable targets by integrating experimental biology with AI in a continuous learning loop. By grounding discovery in human biology and mapping gene function to disease outcomes, we believe the AlgenBrain platform can help drive a new era of predictive, precision drug discovery across a wide range of therapeutic areas.”

Source: BusinessWire