PostEra

#NEWS: Today we're excited to announce a double-expansion of our collaboration with Pfizer. We'll be expanding our existing AI Lab partnership, while also launching a new partnership to develop novel payloads for Antibody-Drug-Conjugates (ADCs). ?? AI Lab: 3 years ago PostEra began to apply our latest advances in machine learning to a series of small molecule programs at Pfizer. The teams called this the AI Lab as the intent was to provide a relatively autonomous environment for AI to prove (or not prove) it's worth. After a series of successes, Pfizer went on to nominate the maximum number of programs into the AI Lab. Given the exciting progress and great partnership between the two teams, the AI Lab will now be expanded to include additional programs. ???? ADCs: Arguably one of the hottest spaces in recent years, ADCs can offer a best-of-both-worlds by allowing for a very targeted delivery of a very potent agent; Pfizer's $43Bn acquisition of Seagen speaks to just how much excitement surrounds this technology. Yet there is much to be done to improve the current states of ADCs and we're excited at PostEra to apply our AI to tackle one of those challenges -- the design of novel payloads (think the D of ADCs). ?????? This expansion represents the 3rd deal PostEra and Pfizer have done together. Along with our other flagship AI partners, Amgen and The National Institutes of Health, these partnerships form the cornerstone of how we support the development of new cures for diseases outside our core internal pipeline. Finally, a huge thanks to the brilliant scientists, BD, and Legal teams at Pfizer who worked with us to make this happen. ?? Read More: https://lnkd.in/g-FtVGJm #MachineLearning #AIinHealthcare #Pharma #DrugDiscovery #Startup #Biotech #AI

I'm excited to be organizing a symposium at #Pacifichem2025 on AI/ML applications to drug discovery with Kuangbiao Liao and Thomas Balle! Please consider submitting an abstract for symposium CLH005 - Augmented discovery: machine learning approaches to improve drug development. Abstracts are due 2 April 2025. https://lnkd.in/eThVmkpD

And now, here's this past week in bio! > AI for science with reasoning models Andrew White of FutureHouse and Gianni De Fabritiis of Acellera Therapeutics > Pharma Deals for TechBio: Part 1 Aaron Morris of PostEra > Vertex Announces FDA Approval of JOURNAVX Vertex Pharmaceuticals > A neuronal gene that loops the loop Rose Marie Akiki et al. (reported on by Kyle Czarnecki and Elizabeth Heller) Read BioByte 102 here: https://lnkd.in/g9f-hhRd

Starting 2025! ?? Johnson & Johnson acquires Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6B, securing Caplyta for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Current sales ~$700M/year, projected to reach $5B with expanded depression indications. ?? Orbis Medicines raises €90M to develop oral macrocycle drugs, backed by Novo Holdings and Eli Lilly, using its AI-driven platform. ?? Recursion advances two drugs to trials: MALT1 inhibitor REC-3565 (B-cell cancers) and LSD1 inhibitor REC-4539 (small-cell lung cancer). ?? Verdiva Bio raises $411M to develop weekly oral GLP-1 and amylin agonists for obesity and cardiometabolic conditions. ?? Sana Biotechnology, Inc. reports promising first-in-human results for hypoimmune islet cell transplants in type 1 diabetes. ?? Insilico Medicine licenses an AI cancer drug to Menarini in a $550M+ deal, reports positive Phase I results for ISM5411, a PHD1/2 inhibitor for IBD. ?? Calico Life Sciences' eIF2B activator fosigotifator fails a Phase 2/3 ALS trial but shows potential benefits at higher doses, prompting further research. ?? Eli Lilly and Company partners with Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd to develop antibodies for ALS using its platform. ?? Novo Nordisk and Valo Health expand their AI partnership to include 20 cardiometabolic drug programs, with $190M upfront and $4.6B in milestones. ?? Tempus AI teams with Genialis to develop RNA-based biomarkers. ?? PostEra expands its $610M Pfizer collaboration to include ADC development. ?? Profluent Bio unveils an AI model trained on 45K CRISPR datasets, enabling expanded gene-editing applications. ?? Merck KGaA adopts Quris AI’s Bio-AI organ-on-chip platform for preclinical testing, reducing reliance on animal studies. ?? Merck partners with Atropos Health to generate real-world data and support life-saving treatments. ?? BlueRock Therapeutics advances cell therapy for Parkinson's to Phase III, with enrollment in H1 2025. ?? Gilead Sciences and LEO Pharma partner in a $1.7B deal for STAT6 inhibitors targeting inflammatory diseases. ?? Truveta raises $320M for its project to integrate 10M exomes with medical data to boost drug discovery. ?? AbbVie partners with Simcere Zaiming on trispecific T-cell engager SIM0500 for multiple myeloma, in a $1.05B deal. ?? Normunity raises $75M to advance its lead T cell engager NRM-823 to trials by late 2025. ?? Boehringer Ingelheim licenses Synaffix BV's ADC platform in a $1.3B deal, expanding its oncology pipeline. ?? Araris Biotech AG partners with Chugai in a $780M deal for ADC development using its AraLinQ platform. ?? Sanofi and Alloy Therapeutics, Inc. collaborate in a $400M+ deal on CNS-targeted antisense drugs. ?? Tenvie Therapeutics launches with $200M to develop neurological and cardiometabolic therapies, including IND-ready NLRP3 and SARM1 inhibitors. Read more and subscribe: https://lnkd.in/ddrnyb6H

Thanks to the many of you who reached out regarding our new Pfizer deal. If you're interested in learning more, do take a read of Rowan Walrath's great write up in C&EN. https://lnkd.in/eyR9g4_T

PostEra (YC W20) just announced its 3rd AI partnership with Pfizer, expanding its existing AI Lab partnership while also launching a new one to develop novel payloads for Antibody-Drug-Conjugates (ADCs). Along with their other AI partnerships, which include Amgen and The National Institutes of Health, this brings their total AI deal value to $1.3B. The company is now applying its AI to 10 drug programs across Women's Health, Cancer, and Viral Infections. Congrats to the team on the new milestone! https://lnkd.in/g87KGJWj

5 years in, we're a little older, hopefully a little wiser, and still aboard the PostEra rollercoaster. Thanks to my two excellent cofounders for another year of riding the highs and lows as we build towards PostEra's mission ?? ... ?? P.S. Keep an eye out for some new PostEra highs to be announced in the coming weeks!

A great reading insight from Aaron Morris at PostEra. Very inspiring article touching on the transformation fundamentals of AI in drug discovery... Would be so happy to get the viewpoint on this from some of my chemistry colleagues! #LifeHubLyon #DigitalTransformation #AIinDrugDiscovery

?? Don’t miss the 1st ACS MEDI Webinar! Join us to explore the role of Machine Learning in Drug Discovery. You’ll hear from two experts in Medicinal Chemistry, and the session will close out with a Round Table Discussion. We are pleased to introduce our first speaker, Dr. Alpha Lee from PostEra, United States. ?? Date: September 26 ?? Time: 1:00-3:00 PM EST ?? Register today to secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/enhvPXpc #DrugDiscovery #MachineLearning #MedicinalChemistry #ACSMEDIWebinar