insitro inks deal with Bristol Myers worth up to $2.1 billion

insitro, a California-based machine-learning driven drug discovery and development company, has entered into a five-year, discovery collaboration with US pharma major Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

In this collaboration, insitro will apply its proprietary platform, the insitro Human (ISH) platform, to create induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived disease models for ALS and FTD. The ISH platform applies machine learning, human genetics and functional genomics to generate and optimize predictive in vitro models and drive therapeutic discovery and development. Through its application, the ISH platform will provide insights into disease progression, identify coherent patient segments and discover candidate targets. Based on these insights, insitro will apply its machine-learning-enabled therapeutics discovery capabilities to advance programs. Bristol Myers Squibb will have the option to select a number of targets identified by insitro to advance through clinical development and commercialization.

Financial terms of the accord