Pierre Fabre and XtalPi Form AI Drug Discovery Partnership
Laboratoires Pierre Fabre and XtalPi have agreed to collaborate on discovering clinical candidates for oncology programs and potentially dermatology and rare diseases. XtalPi will contribute artificial intelligence and robotics, while Pierre Fabre will select and advance promising compounds through clinical and commercial development.
- Pierre Fabre and XtalPi will collaborate on drug discovery programs.
- The initial focus is oncology, with possible work in dermatology and rare diseases.
- XtalPi will provide AI capabilities and a robotic platform for de novo design.
- Pierre Fabre will select compounds and lead later clinical and commercial development.
- Financial terms include upfront and milestone payments, but specific amounts were not disclosed.
AI and robotics for undisclosed targets
Under the agreement, XtalPi will use its integrated artificial intelligence capabilities and robotic platform to design de novo and provide new small-molecule therapies aimed at undisclosed targets. The companies said the collaboration will cover several research programs, with oncology as the primary field and possible work in dermatology and rare diseases.
The partnership will focus on complex targets that have historically been difficult to address with drugs. According to the announcement, these targets are associated with significant unmet medical needs and an opportunity for innovative drug discovery.
Pierre Fabre will lead later development
Laboratoires Pierre Fabre will provide expertise in disease biology, drug discovery, translational research and clinical development. Its role will include selecting the most promising compounds and advancing them, as well as taking responsibility for their subsequent clinical and commercial development.
The arrangement combines XtalPi's technology capabilities with Pierre Fabre's experience in therapeutic development. The companies said they aim to accelerate the identification of high-quality clinical candidates across multiple research programs in oncology and potentially other therapeutic areas.
For Pierre Fabre, the agreement adds to its research and development roadmap and strengthens its drug discovery capabilities. For XtalPi, it supports the application of artificial intelligence and robotics to de novo drug discovery.
A collaboration with undisclosed financial terms
Raymond Zheng, XtalPi's director of Integrated Drug Discovery, said the partnership combines XtalPi's artificial intelligence and robotics capabilities with Pierre Fabre's therapeutic development expertise. He said the objective is to advance promising preclinical candidates for patients with unmet medical needs.
Francesco Hofmann, director of Pharmaceutical Research and Development at Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, described the partnership as an important milestone. He said using XtalPi's artificial intelligence expertise to accelerate the generation of high-quality clinical candidates against multiple targets supports Pierre Fabre's data and artificial intelligence roadmap in research and development, as well as its discovery engine.
The agreement includes an upfront payment, multiple milestone payments and a share in future economic benefits. The companies did not disclose specific financial terms.
For patients and the wider drug market, the immediate significance is the research strategy rather than an available medicine. The collaboration is intended to generate and advance candidates, while the announcement provides no clinical results, product names or timetable for potential therapies. Any benefits will therefore depend on the compounds selected and their progress through later development.
