Nxera Pharma and Antiverse Enter Collaboration To Design Novel GPCR-Targeted Antibody Therapeutics Using Generative AI
Tokyo, Japan and London and Cardiff, UK, 5 November 2024 – Nxera Pharma (“Nxera”; TSE 4565) – formerly known as Sosei Group or Sosei Heptares – and Antiverse, a techbio company designing antibodies for challenging targets, have today announced a multi-target partnership and licensing agreement to design antibodies for G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).
The collaboration combines Antiverse’s generative AI antibody design expertise, including its proprietary machine-learning-generated ‘epitope-specific libraries,’ with Nxera’s NxWave™ platform, a powerful tool for GPCR target selection, validation and structural determination. The partnership aims to bring transformative therapies for multiple diseases of high unmet need. The first project will be aimed at designing antibodies with agonistic function for a challenging GPCR target.
Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Antiverse will receive an upfront payment and research funding and is eligible for milestone payments. Nxera will retain an exclusive worldwide license to the antibody assets, providing full rights to develop and commercialize the candidates.
Murat Tunaboylu, Co-founder and CEO at Antiverse, said: “Around 220 GPCRs with known disease links are undrugged, and antibodies are an essential tool in our mission to drug them. With Nxera’s expertise and support, we are confident our platform can create antibodies for these particularly challenging targets, bringing us closer to creating life-changing therapies for patients.”
Matt Barnes, EVP, President of Nxera Pharma UK and Head of R&D, said: “Our NxWave™ platform has proven utility in unlocking GPCRs to antibody discovery and combining Nxera’s capabilities with Antiverse’s generative AI antibody design platform enables us to explore this exciting opportunity further, with the aim of developing new biologic therapeutics for multiple diseases, where there is high unmet patient need.”
For Nxera, there is no material financial impact for full year 2024.
