XtalPi, a China-based pharmaceutical technology company powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, has on Monday announced a strategic collaboration with the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), Singapore’s national platform for drug discovery and development hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research of Singapore (A*STAR), to discover novel treatment candidates for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In this collaboration, XtalPi joins forces with EDDC to apply its AI technology, automation platform, and expert domain knowledge to discover promising candidates against a NSCLC target chosen by EDDC, XtalPi said in a statement.
According to the statement, XtalPi will leverage its quantum physics and AI-driven platform to generate and screen through millions of molecules in de novo drug design.
The predicted top-performing molecules with desirable drug properties will be validated and optimized in its robotics-powered synthesis and testing lab through iterations.
EDDC will offer valuable insight and data on the novel NSCLC target, further accelerating the drug discovery process and propelling the program towards development.
According to the statement, lung cancer is the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and NSCLC accounts for over 80 percent of all lung cancer cases and its incidence continues to increase globally.
Cited Research and Markets, it said the estimated global market size for NSCLC therapeutics will exceed $20 billion by 2027.
Despite increasing interest and investment in drug research, XtalPi opined that there remains significant unmet needs for effective targeted therapy options for NSCLC patients to achieve better outcomes.
“We are delighted to establish this strategic collaboration with EDDC. XtalPi is committed to serving patients globally by advancing the speed, scale, novelty, and success rate of drug R&D with AI and automation,” said Dr. Shuhao Wen, Co-Founder and Chairman of XtalPi.
“Through this partnership, we hope to continue expanding our collaborations with top-tier research institutes in the booming Pan-Asia biotech community, drive the quick translation of new discoveries into much-needed therapeutics, and contribute to the improved health and longevity of patients in Asia and around the world,” he added.
Professor Damian O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer of EDDC, said: “We are excited to partner XtalPi in the translation of science and research into effective and targeted therapies that enable the treatment of cancer.”
“With XtalPi’s expertise in AI and automation technologies, we are confident that this collaboration will accelerate the development of potential targeted therapy options for NSCLC patients, which are very much needed,” he added.
Founded in 2014, XtalPi founders recognized a common hurdle in drug development having to do with solid polymorphism, which could be successfully tackled with quantum physics predictions.
Since then, XtalPi has maintained its focus on identifying and then attacking traditional bottlenecks in biopharmaceutical research and development (R&D) through innovative technologies.
Through considerable capital investments in automation and personnel, XtalPi now has four locations worldwide and employs approximately 1000 employees.
The firm has engaged in collaboration research with nearly all top-20 pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Its ID4 platform combines physics-based simulations with experimental validation and refinement, automation for rapid synthesis, and machine learning to continuously improve prediction accuracy and process efficiency.