Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has entered into a drug discovery partnership with Aitia, Inc. The Ono Pharma Aitia drug discovery partnership will focus on neurological diseases. Under the agreement, Aitia will apply its REFS™ technology to build Gemini Digital Twins (GDTs). The technology will help identify new therapeutic targets and biomarkers.
Meanwhile, Ono will hold an exclusive worldwide option right for selected targets. The option covers research, development, and commercialization of drug candidates. Aitia’s Gemini Digital Twin (GDT) platform enables the inference of causal relationships to identify novel drug targets, which is not possible with conventional correlation-based AI. Each GDT is a virtual patient model that reflects the disease characteristics of real patients.
Aitia’s causal AI-based REFS™ technology for building GDTs should be highly complementary to identifying new therapeutic targets for neurological diseases that involve complex interactions among genetic, developmental, neural network, immune and environmental factors. In addition, Ono has exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize drug candidates to the targets identified by Aitia. The partnership blends Ono’s drug discovery capabilities with Aitia’s causal artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Thus, both companies hope to uncover disease mechanisms that traditional approaches may not fully reveal.
Causal AI Aids Neurological Drug Discovery
Neurological diseases are often characterized by complex biological processes. These processes can involve genetic, developmental, neural network, immune, and environmental factors. Thus, finding meaningful therapeutic targets can be challenging. Traditional AI techniques depend on correlations among big data. But Aitia’s REFS™ technology is causal. This way, researchers would better understand potential disease mechanisms.
These capabilities will be used for the Ono Pharma Aitia drug discovery partnership to study neurological diseases. GDTs that reflect disease characteristics seen in real patients will be created by Aitia. These virtual patient models could enable researchers to explore correlations between disease factors. In turn, the models can also be used to identify novel drug targets. Ono will then evaluate targets generated from the collaboration. The company will own global rights to research, development and commercialization.
Seishi Katsumata, Corporate Officer / Executive Vice President, Discovery & Research of Ono, highlighted the collaboration’s importance.
“Ono has long been committed to creating innovative medicines for diseases with high unmet medical needs, including neurological diseases. Through this collaboration, we are delighted to leverage cutting-edge REFS™ technology to identify true therapeutic targets in neurological diseases, where disease mechanisms are complex and not yet fully understood. We believe this will accelerate the development of innovative medicines. We will continue to expand our R&D pipeline in the neurology field and strive to deliver new treatments to patients,” said Seishi Katsumata, Corporate Officer / Executive Vice President, Discovery & Research of Ono.
Ono and Aitia Expand AI-Driven Research
The partnership also strengthens Ono’s efforts to expand its neurology research pipeline. At the same time, Aitia will bring its causal AI-powered platform into a major pharmaceutical collaboration. Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia, said the partnership builds on Ono’s experience in neurology.
“We are honored to partner with Ono, a company with a strong track record in the neurology field. By utilizing our state-of-the-art causal AI-powered REFS™ technology, we are confident that we can build Gemini Digital Twins that uncover true disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets that could not be identified with conventional AI, thereby accelerating the development of new therapies,” said Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia.
The companies expect the partnership to spur new ways of finding drugs for neurological conditions. This initiative will connect the dots between causal AI, virtual patient modeling and drug discovery. The Ono Pharma Aitia drug discovery partnership further emphasizes the growing role of AI in pharma R&D. Drug makers are increasingly using sophisticated technologies to probe complex biological systems.
The collaboration offers Ono another path to expand its R&D pipeline. The agreement is an opportunity for Aitia to deploy REFS™ technology in neurological drug discovery. The companies hope to identify therapeutic targets and biomarkers that could be valuable in future drug development. The collaboration will target the targets identified by Aitia’s Gemini Digital Twins.
The partnership therefore marks a step toward using causal AI to address difficult challenges in neurological diseases. Both companies will continue their respective research activities under the terms of the agreement.
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News Source: Businesswire.com
