Artificial-intelligence-powered drug designer Absci has joined up with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on a project to co-develop as many as six potential antibody therapies in oncology.
“By combining MSK’s research expertise with our generative AI drug creation platform, we have the potential to unlock critical advances toward treating this devastating disease,” Absci’s founder and CEO, Sean McClain, said in a statement.
The financial details of the team-up were not disclosed. The collaboration follows Absci’s previous target-and-biologic discovery partnerships with the likes of AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., among others.
With its headquarters in Vancouver, Washington, an AI research lab housed in New York City and an innovation center located in Zug, Switzerland, Absci signed on to 10 active R&D programs in 2023.
AstraZeneca’s anti-cancer affair, inked last December, could deliver Absci up to $247 million in biobucks, while previous deals with Merck and Almirall could net up to $610 million and $650 million, respectively.
Meanwhile, Absci has been working on an internal pipeline of antibody candidates focused on cytokine biology including within inflammatory bowel disease, dermatology and immuno-oncology.