AlgenBrain™ functional genomics platform will drive discovery of novel cell type-specific disease targets through tunable single-cell gene modulation and causal disease trajectory mapping
Algen to receive up to $555 million, including upfront, near-term payments, and potential future milestones
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#AI--Algen Biotechnologies, a biotechnology company pioneering next-generation therapies using advanced CRISPR gene modulation and AI-driven drug discovery, today announced a multi-target partnership with AstraZeneca to accelerate the discovery of novel therapeutic targets in immunology.
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.
Algen will receive an upfront payment from AstraZeneca, and additional payments upon the achievement of specific development, regulatory and commercial milestones, with a potential total deal value of $555 million.
“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,” said Chun-Hao Huang, Ph.D., 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.”
Jim Weatherall Ph.D., Chief Data Scientist, Biopharmaceuticals R&D AstraZeneca said: “We are using AI and Machine Learning to enhance the discovery of new targets, which we believe will help to create more effective medicines. Truly transformative therapies begin with uncovering the right biological targets, which have strong human translational relevance. Algen’s platform offers a powerful approach to achieving this.”
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,” said 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.”
About Algen Biotechnologies
Algen Biotechnologies is a precision therapeutics company redefining drug discovery at the intersection of CRISPR gene modulation and artificial intelligence. Founded by Chun-Hao Huang and Christine Du as a spin-out from Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna’s lab at UC Berkeley, Algen combines deep learning with high-throughput functional genomics to identify novel therapeutic targets. Its proprietary, end-to-end platform AlgenBrain™ integrates advanced computational models with scalable, single-cell experimental systems to decode causal disease biology and accelerate the development of next-generation therapies. Algen is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit www.algenbio.com.
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