Ono Pharma and twoXAR ink neuro drug discovery collaboration

Japanese drugmaker Ono Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4528) has signed a drug discovery research collaboration with twoXAR, a USA-based artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biopharmaceutical company, to jointly discover and develop novel, efficacious treatments to address unmet medical needs in a specific neurological disease. Ono’s shares dipped 1.4% to 2,256 yen following the announcement.

Under the agreement, twoXAR will use its proprietary AI technology to identify a set of lead compounds which demonstrate a novel mechanism of action and will be further optimized by Ono for potential drug candidates. twoXAR will also predict a set of hypotheses which suggest the efficacy and safety of such lead compounds for the therapy.

twoXAR and Ono will select several compounds with their hypotheses from this set to test in further validation studies. Ono will retain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the compounds obtained through this collaboration throughout the world, and in return, twoXAR will receive research and license fees from Ono as well as development and sales milestones. Further financial terms were not disclosed.