Vyant Bio, Ordaōs Bio, and Cellaria, Collaborate on Biomarker-Specific Small Protein Therapeutics

Vyant Bio, an advanced biotechnology drug discovery company, Ordaōs Bio, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug discovery company, and Cellaria, a biotechnology company specializing in cell modeling, announced on April 22, 2021 that they have entered into a collaboration that will seek to de-risk the development of small-protein therapeutics. The partnership plans to unveil a model for rapid iteration of therapeutic design using AI and in-vitro “avatar clinical trials”. This model will enable the design, development, and testing of potential therapeutics on specific patient populations during preclinical development, with the goal to provide an early detection system of a drug’s efficacy in different patient cohorts prior to clinical trials.

Under the collaboration, each company’s unique capabilities will contribute to the design, manufacture, and testing of small-protein therapeutics that target multiple biomarkers derived from whole genome sequencing of patient populations. Ordaōs will use its proprietary AI to generate in-silico protein sequences that will be designed to bind specific disease targets and will serve as a blueprint for the collaborative team’s experts in in-vitro and in-vivo preclinical drug discovery. This blueprint will be used to produce the prospective protein therapeutic and rapidly iterate the structure using an efficient expression system. Cellaria’s Patient Specific Cell Model Cohorts will be used to critically evaluate the purified protein for target binding and further optimize the protein to improve performance across an array of disease-specific genetic biomarker expressing cells. Once the protein is fully optimized by the team, Vyant Bio will aim to deliver regulatory readiness and a maximally de-risked drug candidate. The combined solution will provide data and human-based insights not usually available until after a costly clinical trial, the companies stated in a press release.

Cellaria uses cell biology in novel ways to provide insights into how a therapeutic may perform in specific patient populations, prior to clinical trials. In this collaboration, the company will provide the means for scientists to test how a drug will perform in a range of patient cohorts. The Cellaria in-vitro and three-dimensional models of tumor and metastatic niches are directly linked to a patient’s disease state and enable multiple parametric deep data sets in genomics, proteomics, and combinatorial analysis.

Ordaōs, meanwhile, uses generative AI technology to accelerate the mini-protein drug discovery and development process. In this collaboration, Ordaōs provides a pipeline of digitally optimized therapeutics for further development.

“Vyant Bio is committed to transforming the way that drugs are discovered by quickly adapting to exciting new technologies and combining capabilities in ways that leverage their strengths,” said Jay Roberts, CEO of Vyant Bio in the press release. “Our collaboration with Ordaōs and Cellaria allows us all to work together to design and develop superior therapeutics and position them to be as successful as possible before they get into the clinic.”

“Working with the Ordaōs and Vyant Bio teams has been incredibly important for us. Seeing the wealth of patient data and cells used so seamlessly to inform and guide the design of a therapeutic is highly rewarding,” added David Deems, president and founder of Cellaria, in the press release. “We are developing a repeatable process that leverages well-defined patient cohorts to learn as much as possible prior to embarking on a clinical trial.”

“We are very excited about working with Vyant Bio and Cellaria to further our vision for transforming the way we bring therapeutics to patients. At Ordaōs, we believe that designing, rather than discovering, drugs is now possible with AI and will allow us to think bigger when we envision the impact we can have on people’s lives,” said David Longo, CEO of Ordaōs, in the press release.

“The ultimate goal is to use modern AI to design the next generation of highly effective and safe biologics for treating cancer and inflammatory diseases, thereby creating transformative treatment options for potentially millions of patients worldwide. We expect that this new approach will significantly accelerate drug R&D overall and get the new drugs to patients much faster than with the traditional drug development approach. Patients who suffer from chronic and life-threatening diseases cannot wait. That is why this new collaboration is so important,” added Ülo Palm, Ordaōs’ chief medical officer, in the press release.

The three companies will continue to refine their strategies for drug design and development through a series of projects targeting cancer, pancreatic, and autoimmune disorders. As the project evolves, the therapeutic de-risking strategy will further incorporate the human-based biology and analytical software of StemoniX, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vyant Bio.

Source: Cellaria