Hengrui Pharma Enters Strategic Collaboration with French AI Drug Discovery Firm Iktos

Recently, Hengrui Pharma and France-based Iktos signed a strategic cooperation agreement for an AI-powered new drug R&D platform. Iktos, headquartered in Paris, France, specializes in the development of AI-driven new drug design platforms. Under the agreement, Hengrui will utilize Iktos's AI-based de novo drug design software, Makya™, to accelerate the discovery of small molecule drugs and optimize lead compounds.

Makya™, developed by Iktos, is an AI-driven generative de novo small molecule drug design software for multi-parameter optimization (MPO). Iktos's AI technology, based on deep generative models, can automatically design and generate virtual novel molecules that meet the desired criteria for treating a specific disease, thereby accelerating and enhancing the efficiency of the drug discovery process. This addresses a key challenge in drug design: the rapid identification of molecules that can simultaneously meet multiple bioactivity and drug-likeness criteria required for drug discovery and development.

Dr. Tao Weikang, Vice General Manager of Hengrui Pharma and CEO of its R&D Center, stated that innovation is Hengrui's core development strategy. Hengrui has a strong interest in exploring and applying enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence to revolutionize and accelerate the discovery of innovative drugs. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to use Iktos' proprietary artificial intelligence platform to enhance our drug design and discovery capabilities, in order to better address unmet clinical needs.

"We are very pleased to partner with Hengrui Pharma, a global leading pharmaceutical company from China. As our first collaboration in the Chinese pharmaceutical field, we are excited and proud to have Hengrui's scientists utilize our software in their early R&D projects," said Yann Gaston-Mathé, co-founder and CEO of Iktos. "Drug discovery scientists possess deep knowledge and understanding of their projects, and our ultimate goal is to facilitate the application of our technology for drug discovery scientists. In this way, the promise that artificial intelligence significantly improves drug discovery will stand a better chance of being realized. Iktos is committed to building an innovative technical platform that enhances drug discovery efficiency by integrating powerful algorithmic technologies, proprietary knowledge accumulated through extensive collaborative experience, and an intuitive and user-friendly interface that is crucial for user experience."

Iktos, founded in October 2016, is a start-up company specializing in the development of artificial intelligence solutions for medicinal chemistry and novel drug design. Iktos is developing a proprietary and innovative solution based on deep learning generative models, which is capable of leveraging existing data to optimize molecular design on computers, meeting all the success criteria required for small molecule discovery projects. The use of Iktos' technology significantly enhances the productivity of upstream pharmaceutical R&D. Iktos offers its technology as professional services and through the SaaS software platform Makya™.