ZebiAI and TB Alliance Announce Collaboration to Apply ML-Driven Discovery Platform to Tuberculosis Targets

TB Alliance to leverage ZebiAI’s platform to discover novel probe compounds for important tuberculosis targets, with options for drug discovery

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZebiAI, Inc., a biotech company focused on improving human health by powering machine learning (ML) to source novel targets and discover new therapeutics, today announced a strategic collaboration agreement with TB Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of better, faster-acting and affordable tuberculosis drugs.

ZebiAI’s platform utilizes vast datasets of high-quality protein-small molecule interaction data and proprietary machine learning (ML) algorithms, applied in partnership with Google Accelerated Science, to discover novel compounds from commercial and virtual libraries. Through the collaboration, TB Alliance will provide funding for ZebiAI to develop small molecule probes against key tuberculosis targets. TB Alliance also has the right to exercise options for further ML-driven discovery work on each target in collaboration with ZebiAI.

The collaboration is part of ZebiAI’s Chemome Initiative, which utilizes its ML-driven discovery platform to further characterize the function of understudied proteins and validate novel therapeutic targets in partnership with the research community.

Rick Wagner, CEO of ZebiAI, said, “We are thrilled to work with TB Alliance to help drive the development of more effective tuberculosis treatments. The collaboration is an ideal match for our vision of improving human health by utilizing machine learning to quickly source probe compounds against important or understudied targets and then continuing to apply our ML-driven drug discovery engine to optimize those compounds into drugs.”

Nader Fotouhi, Chief Scientific Officer of TB Alliance, said, “TB Alliance is committed to using cutting edge technology and establishing new partnerships to improve treatment for people with TB. Machine learning, applied to small molecule therapeutics, has the potential to become an important component of drug discovery in the future. We are excited to collaborate with ZebiAI to apply this technology to critical tuberculosis targets. With new drug candidates, we can expand our pipeline of novel regimens that can help bring the TB pandemic under control.”

About ZebiAI Therapeutics

ZebiAI Therapeutics is a privately held biotechnology company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, focused on improving human health by powering machine learning (ML) to source novel targets and discover new therapeutics. The company’s core technology encompasses applying advanced ML algorithms to vast amounts of the highest quality protein-small molecule data to discover novel compounds from unlimited chemical space and then further utilizing ML to advance compounds to clinical candidates. As one of its core strategic programs, ZebiAI, together with its partner Google Accelerated Science, is applying its ML-driven discovery platform to efficiently deliver new chemical probes to the research community for thousands of human proteins to unlock novel biological targets responsible for human disease.

About TB Alliance

TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight TB. Through innovative science and with partners around the globe, we aim to ensure equitable access to faster, better TB cures that will advance global health and prosperity. TB Alliance operates with support from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Disease Eradication Fund (Korea), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Indonesia Health Fund, Irish Aid, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Kingdom Department for International Development, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, visit www.tballiance.org

Ed Koval
Chief Business Officer
ZebiAI Therapeutics
ekoval@zebiai.com
+1 617-784-4748

Thomas Lynch
Director, Communications
TB Alliance
Thomas.lynch@tballiance.org
+1 917 648 0671