Pfizer has used CytoReason's biological models in its research to improve the understanding of the immune system and develop new medications for immune-mediated and immuno-oncology disorders
CytoReason and Pfizer announced the extension of their multi-year partnership for the development of the drug programmes using AI. (Credit: CytoReason)
CytoReason, an artificial intelligence (AI) based medical technology firm, and Pfizer have signed an extended multi-year deal worth up to $110m under which the pharma major will use the former’s AI technology for its drug development programmes.
As per the terms of the five-year deal, Pfizer will make an equity investment of $20m in CytoReason. The pharma firm will hold options to license the latter’s AI platform and disease models and provide funding for supporting supplementary projects.
Collaborating since 2019, Pfizer has used the biological models of the AI firm in its research to improve the understanding of the immune system and develop new medications for immune-mediated as well as immuno-oncology disorders.
The latest research agreement and funding will help create high-resolution models for a variety of therapeutic fields as well as the development of additional disease models, said CytoReason.
CytoReason CEO and co-founder David Harel said: “Pfizer has been a strategic partner of CytoReason since 2019, and we are thrilled to scale our collaboration as one of Pfizer’s trusted AI partners for accelerating drug development.
“This partnership is advancing a significant shift in the biotech industry, and helping drive future R&D for pharmaceutical companies as they continue to use machine learning to develop treatments more efficiently. Transforming complex data into useful actionable insights will potentially provide leading researchers and scientists a roadmap to further develop their drug portfolios.”
Pfizer is said to have used several insights from CytoReason’s platform in its research and development projects spanning more than 20 diseases.
Pfizer chief scientific officer and president Mikael Dolsten said: “We’re pleased to expand our strategic collaboration with CytoReason.
“We look forward to continuing our work with the company’s leading scientists, and to leveraging its cutting-edge platform. CytoReason’s biological data allows us to gain deeper insight into the best drug development pathways for patients, resulting in more informed decisions that are timely and cost-effective.”
Based in Israel, CytoReason, through its platform, collects data from pharma firms for simulating human diseases, tissue by tissue as well as cell by cell.
CytoReason’s platform is designed to help drugmakers identify new opportunities, speed up their clinical trials, reduce the costs of development, and boost their chances of receiving approvals.