SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atomwise Inc. today announced a multi-year agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to apply Atomwise’s patented artificial intelligence (AI) technology in support of Lilly’s preclinical drug discovery efforts. The companies will collaborate on up to ten drug targets selected by Lilly, with the goal of accelerating the time it takes to identify and develop potential new medicines.
Lilly is a recognized leader in virtual library design, with a massive number of molecules enabled by automated synthesis in their robotic laboratory. Identifying which of these molecules might be a potentially new therapeutic for specific diseases is a scientific and analytical challenge, and that is well suited for Atomwise’s AI technology.
“Lilly has made it clear that they are focused on developing drugs for novel target proteins, which are often challenging and less well studied,” said Dr. Abraham Heifets, CEO at Atomwise. “Our expertise and tools have been shown to succeed with these kinds of targets, and therefore could be a key to unlocking success for patients.”
Atomwise could receive up to $1 million per target in discovery milestones and will be eligible for up to $550 million in potential development and commercialization milestones inclusive of all targets. As part of the agreement, Atomwise will have the option to develop compounds from the collaboration that Lilly chooses not to advance into clinical testing.
Atomwise currently supports discovery projects in 19 countries across every major therapeutic area. To learn more about the technology, visit https://www.atomwise.com/our-technology/.
About Atomwise
Atomwise Inc. invented the first deep learning AI technology for structure-based small molecule drug discovery. Today, Atomwise performs hundreds of projects per year in partnership with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies, as well as more than one hundred universities and hospitals in 19 countries. Atomwise has raised over $50 million from leading venture capital firms to support the development and application of its AI technology.