Salubris Partners with AlphaMol to Advance AI-Driven Anti-Obesity Drug Discovery

In the field of new anti-obesity drug development, both parties will engage in in-depth cooperation to jointly promote the intelligent upgrading of drug research and development, and efficiently complete the development of innovative original drugs.

In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has witnessed a surge in AI-powered innovation for drug development. AI-driven drug discovery refers to the integration of artificial intelligence technologies into various application scenarios within the novel drug development process, aiming to achieve rapid and cost-effective new drug creation. Currently, AI technology has already made significant progress in areas such as drug target identification, candidate drug molecule exploration, compound screening, and the discovery of new indications for existing drugs.

Global pharmaceutical giants have long been investing in AI-driven drug discovery technologies, with numerous collaborations exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars emerging between 2021 and 2022. Empowered by AI in new drug development, Chinese domestic pharmaceutical companies and Biotech firms are also accelerating their entry into the field, resulting in a surge in the number of related technology partnerships.

In China, small-molecule drugs are widely used, primarily focusing on drug discovery to achieve the capability of large-scale platform-based pharmaceuticals. In April this year, Deep Potential Technology partnered with Enhua Pharma in a strategic collaboration to advance the research and development of small-molecule drugs in the central nervous system field. Subsequently, targeting chronic autoimmune diseases, XtalPi announced its collaboration with Federal Pharmaceutical for the R&D of innovative small-molecule drugs. Just two months later, XtalPi also reached a partnership with Hisun Pharmaceutical in the field of chemical synthesis.

The collaboration between Salubris and AlphaMol combines Salubris' capabilities in drug discovery, development, and clinical translation with AlphaMol's biocomputing, AI, and proprietary biotechnology, further enhancing the efficiency and success rate of new drug research and development. This partnership promotes industrial upgrading for both parties in the international and Chinese markets, accelerates the discovery of potential drug molecules targeting anti-obesity, and achieves a win-win outcome in the field of new drug R&D.

Obesity is a common chronic disease that is often accompanied by many serious metabolic complications, such as hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia. Currently, there are over 700 million obese people worldwide, and the prevalence rate is still on the rise. Obesity has become a major public health issue endangering global health.

The Report on the Nutritional and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020) shows that the overweight/obesity rate among residents of all age groups in urban and rural areas continues to rise. The overweight rate and obesity rate among Chinese residents aged 18 and above are 34.3% and 16.4%, respectively, with a total exceeding 50%.

By 2030, the combined prevalence of overweight/obesity among adults in China is projected to reach 65.3%, with medical costs attributable to overweight/obesity amounting to 418 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 21.5% of the total national medical expenditure.

At present, there are very few oral small-molecule drugs for treating obesity globally, and there is still significant room for improvement in terms of efficacy and safety. The collaboration between Salubris and AlphaMol, based on their respective advantageous resources and core technologies, integrates cutting-edge biotechnology with industrial resources. This is reported to be Salubris’ first external cooperation in the AI-driven drug discovery sector.

References:

1. ALPHAMOL SCIENCE LTD Official Website

2. Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. Official Website

Editor: Dadasiva

Disclaimer: This article is a reprint from Pharmaron. The images and text are the original works of the author, and the purpose of the reprint is to convey more information. It does not represent the views of this platform. If there are any issues regarding the content, copyright, or other aspects, please leave a message on this platform, and we will delete it as soon as possible.