Turbine, the biological simulation company using AI to build a digital lab for predictive computational models of human cells and tissue, today announced that Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan, “Ono”) has selected multiple targets identified using Turbine’s in silico Simulated Cell™ platform for further development. Turbine will now lead in vitro validation of the identified targets in one of Ono’s priority cancer biology domains, in consultation with Ono.
“Achieving this milestone so quickly speaks to the speed and power of our digital laboratory platform, which models foundational protein signaling logic to target disease and position therapeutic assets for clinical success,” said Szabolcs Nagy, Turbine’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “All within just a year, we built, trained, and tested the optimal avatars to identify targets within Ono’s priority domain, screened for all relevant perturbations, then filtered and translated millions of in silico experiments to find key hypotheses ready for validation in our wet lab. Our insights included causal factors for each target’s mechanism of action, which should simplify and speed up validation. We’re looking forward to working with our colleagues at Ono to advance this important work.”
Under the terms of the collaboration, which was announced in October 2023, Turbine will receive a milestone payment for completing this phase of the research program. As Turbine leads in vitro validation studies of the selected targets in its state-of-the-art wet laboratory facilities, it will consult with Ono’s experts on plans and expected outcomes. Turbine will be eligible for additional payments related to the validation process, as well as for progress of drug development and commercialization by Ono.
“Ono is committed to innovating transformative therapies that improve outcomes for cancer patients, and identifying novel targets with robust scientific support is essential for achieving this goal,” said Seishi Katsumata, Corporate Officer/Executive Director, Discovery & Research of Ono. “Turbine has provided multiple targets that have first-in-class potential, along with the biology-driven insights necessary to rapidly validate this potential. We’re excited to move these targets forward and expect that the collaboration will consequently lead to providing a new therapeutic option to cancer patients as soon as possible.”
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., headquartered in Osaka, is an R&D-oriented pharmaceutical company committed to creating innovative medicines in specific areas. Ono focuses its research on oncology, immunology, neurology and specialty research with high medical needs as priority areas for discovery and development of innovative medicines. For further information, please visit the company’s website at https://www.ono-pharma.com/en.
Countless resources and time are expended globally to research and advance novel therapies that end in clinical failure and no patient benefit. Imagine a world where it is possible to predict any potential drug’s effect on translatable biological models yet unavailable for lab-based testing – while accurately representing patient biology. Turbine is revolutionizing the status quo by working to ensure that we always run the right wet lab experiments.
With machine learning that understands the logic by which human cells make decisions, Turbine has built the world’s leading predictive simulation of patient biology. The Simulated Cell™ platform models the fundamental protein signaling logic that decides cell fate and facilitates in silico experiments at scales that are impossible in the physical world. Billions of simulated experiments can be run in the time it takes to complete even a single test in a wet lab to empower the biopharma industry by identifying and confirming disease driving mechanisms.
Turbine’s platform is already used to guide the pipelines of leading pharma companies such as AstraZeneca, Ono Pharmaceutical, Cancer Research Horizons, and Bayer. In addition, Turbine has received funding from industry leaders such as MSD (Merck & Co, Inc. Rahway NJ, USA) Global Health Innovation Fund, MassMutual Ventures, Accel and Delin Ventures among others.
For more information, visit www.turbine.ai or follow Turbine on LinkedIn.
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