Almirall, Absci Partner to Develop AI-Designed Therapies for Dermatologic Conditions

Lee/Adobe Stock

Absci Corporation, a leader in generative artificial intelligence (AI) drug creation, and Almirall, a global biopharmaceutical company specializing in medical dermatology, have announced¹ a strategic partnership aimed at revolutionizing the landscape of dermatological therapeutics. The collaboration seeks to incorporate the power of AI in developing and commercializing treatments for chronic and debilitating skin diseases.

The partnership will combine Absci’s Integrated Drug Creation platform with Almirall’s expertise in dermatology. The collaboration represents Almirall’s inaugural de novo AI drug initiative, marking a shift toward embracing AI-driven innovation in drug development and is aimed at driving innovation in dermatologic drug development.

Read more from Dermatology Times about the use of AI in dermatology here.

Absci's "zero-shot" generative AI, which allows the design and validation of de novo therapeutic antibodies, will be leveraged in the partnership to create therapeutic candidates for 2 specific dermatologic targets.

Earlier this year, Absci announced² that zero-shot was breakthrough in generative AI drug creation capable of "binding to specific targets without using any training data of antibodies known to bind to those specific targets."

When validated against more than 100,000 antibodies, Absci found that the zero-shot generative AI's hit rate was estimated to be 5 to 30 times greater than the examined biological baselines.

"Almirall chose Absci because their de novo platform brings truly novel innovation in solving the industry’s most challenging targets facing high unmet medical need," said Karl Ziegelbauer, PhD, in a press release. Ziegelbauer is Amirall's Executive VP of Research and Development.

"Our partnership underlines Almirall’s commitment to target innovative approaches to help patients suffering from severe skin diseases to achieve their dream of leading a healthy life," Ziegelbauer said.

Absci's Founder and CEO, Sean McClain, echoed the sentiment, saying, “Our partnership with Almirall marks an important leap forward for dermatologic drug development and is poised to transform the lives of millions managing skin conditions.”

References

1. Almirall and ABSCI announce AI Drug Discovery Partnership to rapidly develop novel treatments for dermatological diseases. Absci Corp. November 14, 2023. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://investors.absci.com/news-releases/news-release-details/almirall-and-absci-announce-ai-drug-discovery-partnership
2. Costa K. ABSCI achieves a breakthrough in AI Drug Creation. Absci. November 3, 2023. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.absci.com/absci-achieves-a-breakthrough-in-ai-drug-creation/