In this collaboration, Iktos’ de novo generative design technology in combination with Curreio’s state-of-the-art cryo-EM platform will be used to facilitate the rapid and cost-effective design of novel preclinical drug candidates for an undisclosed target.

Iktos’ Makya^™ generative AI technology helps to bring new insights and directions into the molecular discovery process by automatically designing virtual novel molecules that have desired activities for treating a given disease. This approach uniquely enables the exploration of the chemical space and produces innovative molecule designs with optimized predicted properties, freedom to operate, and built-in synthetic accessibility thanks to the integration of Iktos’ Spaya^™ retrosynthesis AI technology. It is a novel solution to one of the key challenges in small molecule design: rapid identification of molecules that simultaneously satisfy multiple parameters, such as potency, selectivity, safety, and project-specific properties.

In the context of the collaboration, Iktos’ generative AI technology will be combined with structure-based modelling, using insights produced thanks to Curreio’s cryo-EM platform to design structures maximizing protein-ligand interaction and with high probability of meeting the project’s Target Product Profile (TPP).

Structural analysis technology using Cryo-EM is one of the best technologies in the three-dimensional structural analysis of biomolecules, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017. In particular, single-particle structure analysis using Cryo-EM is an analytical technique with many advantages, such as no need for crystallization and the obtaining of structures in aqueous solution. On the other hand, the success rate of structural analysis using Cryo-EM depends on the maturity of related technologies. Curreio has unique technologies for production and purification of protein samples optimal for Cryo-EM, as well as for the grid preparation and 3D structural analysis. This technology enables the structural analysis of difficult protein and protein-supramolecular complexes, thereby expanding the possibilities of drug discovery for these targets.

"At Iktos, we strive to build an innovative technology platform capable of improving the efficiency of drug discovery by combining our powerful algorithmic technology and our know-how derived from the experience of our many collaborations. We are therefore thrilled to enter into a research collaboration with Curreio, a specialist in structural analysis of biomolecules and to combine our technology platforms to accelerate structure-based drug discovery together", said Yann Gaston-Mathé, Co-founder and CEO of Iktos.

“We are delighted to announce that we have successfully signed a collaborative research agreement and excited about this collaboration with IKTOS, a company based in France known for its highly advanced AI technology. We have high hopes that this joint research, utilizing our cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) technology, will greatly accelerate our unique structure-based drug design (SBDD) efforts”, said Motoki Nakai, founder and CEO of Curreio, Inc.