The turnkey drug discovery solution leverages Valo’s AI-powered Opal Computational Platform and Charles River’s preclinical expertise

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Charles River, Valo launch Logica. (Credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash)

Charles River Laboratories and Valo Health have rolled out a new AI-powered drug solution Logica, which directly translates clients’ biological insights into optimised preclinical assets.

Logica is a customised drug discovery solution that leverages Valo’s AI-powered opal computational platform and Charles River’s expertise in preclinical development.

It uses advanced predictive models, chemical design and synthesis capabilities, DNA-encoded libraries, in silico high throughput screening from an opal computational platform.

Charles River will leverage its capabilities including high throughput screening, medicinal chemistry, ADME, biology, pharmacology, and ultimately safety testing and IND submission.

The new AI solution provides clients with advanced drug discovery capabilities with a single integrated offering, enabling them easily translate targets into candidates.

Charles River corporate executive vice president and chief operating officer Birgit Girshick said: “Through our partnership with Valo, we’re integrating Charles River’s laboratory capabilities with industry-altering AI-driven molecular design to provide our clients with highly advanceable leads and candidates, while tying client costs to value generation.

“AI-powered solutions are driving drug discovery forward and this is the kind of innovation our industry needs to ultimately bring effective treatments to patients faster.”

Logica includes Advanceable Lead (Logica-AL) and Candidate (Logica-C) programmes, which Charles River exclusively offered under its partnership with Valo, initiated earlier this year.

Logica-AL provides highly advanceable series, such as in-vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and selectivity profiles to customers.

Logica-C will leverage advanceable leads and trained predictive models to rapidly advance the programme to deliver a development candidate which is ready for IND studies.

Logica is said to combine approaches with the potential to produce an advanceable lead series 90% of the time and deliver development candidates 58% of the time.

Valo founder and CEO David Berry said: “We are creating an opportunity to fully outsource small molecule discovery while providing a true risk-sharing model with advanceable leads and candidates with the goal of helping companies scale faster, translating more biological insight into candidates to make better drugs for patients, faster.”