Xtalpi Announces Strategic AI-Driven Drug Discovery Collaborations with UCB and Deep Principle

Recently, XtalPi (XtalPi Holdings-P, XTALPI-P, Stock Code: 2228.HK) announced that its subsidiary, Ailux Biologics, has signed an AI platform licensing agreement for large molecule drug discovery with UCB, a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Belgium.According to the agreement, XtalPi has commercially licensed UCB to use Ailux Biologics' self-developed XtalFold™ AI platform for the discovery and engineering design of macromolecular drugs.XtalFold™ is an AI-based software platform capable of providing rapid and accurate structural information for large-molecule drug discovery, accelerating innovation across multiple stages of research and development.

XtalFold™ utilizes sequence information to model interactions between biomacromolecules, which are the basis for the efficacy of macromolecular drugs such as monoclonal antibodies. In rigorous benchmarking tests, XtalFold™ demonstrates industry-leading performance in overall success rate and the quality of challenging-to-model regions, such as antibody-antigen interfaces.XtalFold™ has been licensed to multiple global pharmaceutical companies., and has played a key role in various R&D projects, including antigen design, epitope identification, affinity maturation, pH sensitivity modification, and bispecific antibody design.

"UCB is a leading international pharmaceutical company and a pioneer innovator in using computational methods to design differentiated drugs that benefit patients.” XtalPi CEO Ma Jian"We are honored to empower UCB's research and development efforts with XtalPi's AI protein structure prediction algorithm, helping them create more innovative drugs that can change the lives of patients."”

Li Yi, Vice President of XtalPi and Head of Ailux Biologics, stated"Not long ago, the Nobel Prize was awarded for protein structure prediction. XtalFold™ is exactly the embodiment of the industrial application of this technology. As a fully validated commercial solution, this technology is rapidly gaining popularity in the industry. We are very pleased to join hands with UCB to further explore its potential."

"UCB has deep expertise in antibody discovery and engineering. We have developed unique and efficient single B-cell screening and in vitro display technologies to support hit molecule discovery, and we are a leader in structure-based and computer-aided molecular optimization. The introduction of XtalFold™ will further enhance our R&D capabilities by integrating structural insights of antibody-antigen interactions into the entire antibody discovery and optimization process."Daniel Lightwood, Head of Antibody Discovery and Optimization at UCB, said.

Alexander Hillisch, Head of Global CADD (Computer-Aided Drug Design) at UCB, added:“After rigorous testing and comparison with other computational methods, we ultimately decided to introduce XtalFold™.We believe that it can significantly enhance UCB's ability to quickly discover high-quality antibody drugs, ultimately bringing new treatment options to patients."

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The next day, XtalPi announced a strategic partnership with the star technology innovation company Deep Principle.

Leveraging the AI + robotics platform technological advantages of XtalPi and the expertise of both parties, the collaboration focuses on intelligent and automated R&D in the field of chemical materials. Together, they aim to create a next-generation, fully integrated intelligent material R&D platform that combines novel molecular design, reaction pathway design, reaction synthesis optimization, and high-throughput automated workstation capabilities.Expected to complete the full closed-loop process from material discovery, property prediction, formulation optimization to controllable experiments in a shorter time.，to create a new R&D paradigm that is "faster, more accurate, and more cost-effective."

Also originating from MIT, as an emerging force in the AI-driven chemical field, Deep Principle was co-founded by CEO Dr. Haojun Jia and CTO Dr. Chenru Duan, dedicated to accelerating innovation in materials chemistry through artificial intelligence technology.Application of AI Decision Models and Generative AI in Chemical Reactions, disrupting the traditional "top-down experimental trial-and-error" approach to chemical material discovery.

As a strategic investor of Deep Principle, XtalPi not only provides capital support but also empowers in technology and commercial transformation, jointly accelerating the development of new chemical reactions and materials, exploring broader chemical space and innovative synthetic pathways, and speeding up the development and commercialization of new technologies and molecules.

As the 2024 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry were successively announced, artificial intelligence once again captured widespread attention. As a general-purpose technology, AI has moved from laboratories to various fields of industrial application, leading technological advancements, transforming research paradigms, and empowering industries across the board.

As a platform-based technology company that is the first to apply artificial intelligence technology on a large scale in the biopharmaceutical field, and gradually expand to industries such as new materials, fine chemicals, and new energy, XtalPi leverages quantum physics, empowers with artificial intelligence, and drives with robotic technology.Independently developed an AI robot innovation R&D platform for future industries, achieving breakthrough progress in intelligent chemistry (AI for Chemistry) and intelligent materials (AI for Materials).。

In order to allow the innovative achievements of cutting-edge technologies to benefit more fields, XtalPi leverages the advantages of a platform enterprise to build a comprehensive technical service platform that integrates innovative technologies, innovative models, and high-quality data. On the one handBuilt and scaled up the deployment of an AI robotics lab from scratch, continuously producing and accumulating experimental data from real-world scenarios.Using these high-quality data, XtalPi has successfully developed and trained multiple vertical domain models, which have already generated value in specific industries and gained recognition from customers both in China and internationally.

On the other hand, XtalPi engages in in-depth exchanges and collaborations with top global research institutions.Academia and industry innovate collaboratively, promoting more innovative achievements to move from the laboratory to the industry., achieving remarkable results. For instance, collaborating with the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to explore the use of AI + robotics platforms to jointly drive the construction of a new paradigm for scientific intelligence (AI For Science) in chemical and materials science research; partnering with Singapore's Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) to advance innovative drug development targeting non-small cell lung cancer, and more.

References:

1.https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RVPhTT6MPBTx_rlM_AcuJQ

2.https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_jUYX-mpKAu7jV7Qxm5PNA