Collaboration will harness AI technology to
address an aging-related target
NOVATO, US - Media OutReach - August 14 , 2018 - The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Insilico
Medicine, and Juvenescence Ltd announced today that they have formed Napa
Therapeutics, Ltd to develop drugs against a novel aging-related target. The
Buck Institute is one of the leading research centers in the world focused solely
on research on aging and the elimination of age-related disease. Insilico
Medicine is an AI company focused on a range of verticals devoted to aging. Insilico Medicine stands to earn more than
$100M in milestone payments should the program be successful. Juvenescence is a
company focused on developing drugs to modify aging and the diseases of aging.
Napa Therapeutics is based on groundbreaking research in NAD
metabolism conducted in the lab of Eric
Verdin, MD, President and CEO of the Buck Institute. The Verdin lab will collaborate
with Napa, using Insilico's drug development engine to speed the discovery of
new compounds. "This is a unique opportunity to use cutting-edge AI to
accelerate drug discovery," said Dr. Verdin. "The Buck is excited to join
forces with Insilico and Juvenescence as we work to eliminate the threat of
age-related disease for this and future generations."
"I am most excited by this model and the ability to combine the
quality science of the Buck Institute with the remarkable deep learning engine
at Insilico Medicine. To me this is another big step in the evolving process of
using AI with HI (human intelligence) to extract the best of both systems,"
said Gregory Bailey, MD, CEO of Juvenescence. "Napa Therapeutics lets
Juvenescence deepen our collaboration with the Buck Institute and with Insilico
Medicine. We hope to shorten the time required to identify molecules that can
be brought to the clinic and most importantly help patients."
"We are very happy to partner with the Buck Institute and
Juvenescence around a very promising set of targets in a pathway overlooked by
the pharmaceutical industry. Aging research is among the most altruistic causes
that will improve and extend the lives of everyone on the planet and reduce the
pain and suffering associated with the age-associated diseases. However, in order to scale, our efforts must
become sustainable and provide reasonable returns to investors. If successful,
Insilico Medicine alone stands to earn in excess of $100 million in milestone
payment from this deal", said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, founder and CEO of
Insilico Medicine.
About Napa Therapeutics. Ltd
Napa Therapeutics, Ltd. is a biotechnology company focused on a
novel target linked to one of the fundamental processes of aging. A privately
held British Virgin Islands company with an office in the Isle of Man, Napa is
developing small molecule drugs to address this target.
About the Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Our success will
ultimately change healthcare. At the Buck, we aim to end the threat of
age-related diseases for this and future generations by bringing together the
most capable and passionate scientists from a broad range of disciplines to
identify and impede the ways in which we age. An independent, nonprofit
institution, our goal is to increase human health span, or the healthy years of
life. Globally recognized as the pioneer and leader in efforts to target aging,
the number one risk factor for serious diseases including Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's, cancer, macular degeneration, heart disease, and diabetes, the Buck
wants to help people live better longer.
Learn more at: https://buckinstitute.org
About Juvenescence, Ltd.
Juvenescence Limited
is a company focused on developing therapies
and drugs to increase human longevity and complementary investments in related
sectors. It was founded in 2017. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced
entrepreneurs and drug developers focused on life science and commercial drug
development. Juvenescence creates new ventures and invests time and money
directly in both start-up and in conjunction with established longevity related
companies offering operational support.
Juvenescence believes that advances in science
have made real the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing
some elements of ageing and is assembling a pipeline of therapeutic agents
through joint ventures.
About Insilico Medicine, Inc.
Insilico Medicine
is an artificial intelligence company with
R&D offices and resources in the US, Belgium, Russia, the UK, Taiwan and
Korea, sourced through hackathons and competitions. The company and its
scientists are dedicated to extending human productive longevity and
transforming every step of the drug discovery and drug development process
through excellence in biomarker discovery, drug development, digital medicine
and aging research.
Insilico pioneered the applications of the
generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning for
generation of novel molecular structures for diseases with a known ligand and
with no known targets. In addition to working collaborations with large
pharmaceutical companies, the company is pursuing internal drug discovery
programs in cancer, dermatological diseases, fibrosis, Parkinson's Disease,
Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, diabetes, sarcopenia, and aging. Through a
partnership with LifeExtension.com the company launched a range of
nutraceutical products, compounded using advanced bioinformatics and deep
learning techniques. It also provides a range of consumer-facing applications,
including Young.AI.
In 2017, NVIDIA selected Insilico Medicine as
one of the Top 5 AI companies for potential in social impact. In 2018, the
company was named one of the global top 100 AI companies by CB Insights. In
2018 it received the Frost & Sullivan 2018 North American Artificial
Intelligence for Aging Research and Drug Development Award accompanied by
industry brief. Brief company video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l62jlwgL3v8
.
http://www.insilico.com
Contact Information:
Roger Lai, Consultant
jclai@swem.com.tw
