Collaboration leverages Ventus’ physics-based and AI/ML-enabled ReSOLVE® platform to initiate discovery programs for multiple therapeutic targets and support medicinal chemistry strategy for active Genentech programs
Ventus will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for further preclinical, development and commercial milestones exceeding $460 million plus royalties
Ventus Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing two Phase 2 small-molecule programs for immunological, inflammatory, and neurological disorders, today announced a multi-year collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to discover and optimize novel small-molecule candidates for challenging targets in major disease areas using Ventus’ proprietary drug discovery platform, ReSOLVE®.
ReSOLVE® combines the latest advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, protein science, structural biology, and biophysics to generate precise and dynamic water networks in protein pockets. Its output, the hydrocophore®, can be used to support lead identification and lead optimization for novel small-molecule therapeutics at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional screening processes.
“ReSOLVE® uniquely models the structure of water in motion to better understand protein structures, thereby shortening the drug discovery timeline and accelerating patient benefit,” said Michael Crackower, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Ventus. “Genentech is a world leader in drug discovery, responsible for bringing some of the most important medicines of our time to patients. We look forward to working together to discover breakthrough medicines.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Ventus will use ReSOLVE® for virtual screening and lead identification of novel small molecules against multiple targets, and Genentech will conduct subsequent preclinical development, clinical development and commercialization. In addition, Ventus may leverage ReSOLVE® to support other discovery programs at Genentech. Ventus will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for further preclinical, development and commercial milestones exceeding $460 million plus tiered royalties on net sales.
“Roche and Genentech are continuing to invest in breakthrough technologies that help us to bring differentiated therapies to patients,” said Boris L. Zaïtra, Head of Roche Corporate Business Development. “Collaborating with biotech companies such as Ventus, which brings a unique computational approach to drug discovery, has the potential to generate innovative medicines for long-standing challenging targets."
About ReSOLVE®
Ventus’ proprietary ReSOLVE® platform combines the latest advances in artificial intelligence/machine learning, protein science, structural biology, and biophysics to substantially increase the speed and accuracy of small-molecule drug discovery. ReSOLVE® is the only platform that can model all conformations of a protein, identify druggable pockets, characterize the dynamic water networks of a pocket, and use those water networks to generate a blueprint for small molecule binders, referred to as a hydrocophore®. The hydrocophore® enables rapid virtual screening of libraries containing billions of compounds, efficiently identifying potent and structurally unique chemical matter. ReSOLVE® is both target agnostic and therapeutic area agnostic and can be applied to multiple stages of drug discovery, from target assessment to development candidate nomination.
About Ventus Therapeutics
Ventus Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing multiple small-molecule programs for immunological, inflammatory, and neurological disorders. Using its proprietary drug discovery platform, ReSOLVE®, the company has established a robust pipeline of wholly-owned programs: VENT-03, a first-in-class, oral cGAS inhibitor in Phase 2 for lupus with significant expansion opportunities in additional I&I diseases, cardiometabolic conditions, and inflammaging; VENT-02, a best-in-class, brain-penetrant, oral NLRP3 inhibitor in Phase 2 for Parkinson’s disease; and VENT-04, a first-in-class caspase-4/5 inhibitor in preclinical development. In addition, Ventus has out-licensed VENT-01, a peripherally-restricted, oral NLRP3 inhibitor in Phase 1, to Novo Nordisk A/S. For more information, please visit www.ventustx.com and engage with Ventus on LinkedIn.
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