Une collaboration pharmaceutique dévoile un accord de plusieurs milliards de dollars
Bayer and Recursion Pharmaceuticals have restructured and expanded their collaboration, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug discovery with a newfound emphasis on cancer. The revised deal, potentially valued at $1.5 billion, will see the two companies engage in up to seven precision oncology projects. Bayer‘s strategic move involves leveraging Recursion’s innovative drug discovery platform, integrating a vast dataset comprising five trillion biological and chemical relationships. This platform combines wet-lab biology and chemistry with machine learning tools, offering a digitized approach to drug discovery. Notably, the dataset encompasses 50 human cell types and a library of approximately 1.7 million small molecules, supported by the BioHive-1 supercomputer, a collaboration with NVIDIA. Under the terms of the revamped agreement, Bayer secures the option for exclusive licensing of novel therapeutics originating from the collaborative precision oncology program. Recognition of disruptive potential Bayer‘s venture capital arm had previously participated in Recursion’s $239 million Series D financing in 2020, leading to a five-year research collaboration concentrating on fibrotic diseases. Though this initial collaboration has concluded, Bayer, acknowledging the transformative potential of Recursions technology, has shifted its focus to incorporate the platform into its oncology pipeline. Juergen Eckhardt, Head of Business Development at Bayer, expressed confidence in Recursions platform, deeming it potentially
