The partnership aims to develop compounds that serve as targets critical to cellular homeostasis
Elix and the Graduate School of Life Sciences at Tohoku University have signed a joint research agreement aimed at advancing drug discovery through the use of AI technologies.
Traditional drug discovery processes require significant time and resources to identify promising compounds from among a vast number of candidates and are facing a major challenge: low success rates.
AI is gaining momentum as a transformative approach to enhancing the efficiency of drug discovery research, particularly when applied to molecular design and property prediction, enabling the more accurate design of drug candidates and narrowing of synthesis and evaluation targets, thereby accelerating development and lowering costs.
Elix is a Japan-based AI drug discovery company aiming to 'rethink drug discovery'. To reduce the costs and time associated with drug development while enhancing success rates, Elix utilises AI and machine learning in its collaborations. Its business model consists of providing pharmaceutical companies with its AI drug discovery platform, Elix Discovery, developed under the concept of 'medicinal chemists can truly use it', and enhancing collaborative drug discovery projects with strategic partners by leveraging Elix's AI technologies and expertise.
Elix Discovery offers a graphical user interface (GUI) that facilitates the automated construction of predictive models for optimal compound profiles. It also features diverse structure generation functions, with a strength in 'proposing structures that humans would not conceive'. By incorporating curated structure generation models, including proprietary ones, with predictive models and parameters built on the GUI, researchers can optimise molecular design. The platform also supports both ligand-based drug design (LBDD) and structure-based drug design (SBDD), enabling exploration across a broader range of approaches.
The Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules at the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, is developing novel approaches for small-molecule drug discovery and chemical biology, rooted in organic chemistry and cell biology.
The lab focuses on small-molecular PROTACs (proteolysis-targeting chimaeras) that induce the degradation of intracellular target proteins, as well as on targeted protein degradation (TPD), which selectively degrades specific proteins. These efforts aim to suggest new drug discovery strategies against “undruggable” proteins that have been previously difficult to target.
In this project, Elix will work with the research group led by Professor Minoru Ishikawa, combining Elix's compound profile predictions and molecular generation AI with Professor Ishikawa's proprietary technologies and expertise. The partnership aims to develop compounds that serve as targets critical to cellular homeostasis. Compounds generated through the collaboration are expected to provide insights into biological functions and to expand possibilities for next-generation therapies.
Professor Minoru Ishikawa, The Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules at the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, said, "TPD research has been attracting global attention, and we have been seeking ways to shorten the time required to identify small-molecule ligands for relevant proteins. Elix’s AI drug discovery technology is highly attractive as a means to achieve this, and I am delighted to collaborate with them. Through this joint research, we will accelerate ligand discovery for TPD, advance TPD research together with Elix, and work toward proposing new therapeutic strategies for intractable diseases."
Shinya Yuki, CEO of Elix, said, "We are very pleased to accelerate the creation of novel compounds for difficult-to-target proteins by combining Elix’s AI drug discovery technologies with the unique methods and deep expertise of Professor Ishikawa, a leader in TPD research. By applying our strength in structure generation AI to TPD, a new modality, we aim to open new frontiers in drug discovery research that could not be achieved by Elix alone, in partnership with Tohoku University."
