Bayer collaborates with Recursion on fibrotic diseases

Germany’s Bayer (BAYN: DE) and USA-based Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a digital biology company industrializing drug discovery, have entered into a strategic collaboration.

The partnership will leverage Recursion’s purpose-built artificial intelligence-guided drug discovery platform and Bayer’s small molecule compound library and deep scientific expertise to discover and develop new treatments for fibrotic diseases of the lung, kidney, heart and more.

In addition, Leaps by Bayer, the impact investment arm of Bayer AG, is leading Recursion’s Series D financing with an investment of $50 million.

“We are driving forward digital transformation in R&D as we believe that digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, offer a myriad of novel opportunities to address the complex biology of many diseases and identify new treatments for patients,” said Dr Joerg Moeller, a member of the executive committee of Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division and head of R&D, adding: “The collaboration with Recursion enables us to discover small molecule drug candidates targeting novel biology for the treatment of fibrotic diseases and complements our expertise in cardiovascular research with digital technologies.”