Iktos acquires Synsight, a life sciences technology company specializing in protein-protein and RNA-protein interactions-targeted drug discovery
08 Julio 2024 - 2:00AM
PRESS RELEASE
Iktos acquires Synsight, a life sciences
technology company specializing in protein-protein and RNA-protein
interactions-targeted drug discovery
- Synsight provides Iktos with an
exclusive worldwide license to INSERM’s patented technology
enabling high performance AI-driven in cellulo screening of
modulators of protein-protein and RNA-protein interactions
- The merger further complements
Iktos' AI-based drug discovery platform, that currently includes
generative AI design, Retrosynthesis, and AI-driven automated
synthesis capabilities by adding the key step of automated
biological testing
Paris, July
8th 2024
– Iktos, a company specializing in Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and Robotics for new drug design, announces the
acquisition of Synsight, a French biotech company applying AI and
high-content cell imaging to the discovery of novel drug
candidates. The operation completes Iktos’ unique platform in AI
and Robotics-assisted drug discovery.
Strengthening Iktos’s drug discovery
value chain
Under an exclusive license from INSERM, Synsight
has developed MT Bench™, a technology that detects protein-protein
(PPI) and RNA-protein interactions (RPI) in cellulo with
unprecedented performance and enables the screening of molecules
that can modulate these interactions.
Iktos, a leading European company in GenAI for
Drug Discovery with a strong track record of successful
collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies, is developing
Iktos Robotics, a unique AI-driven robotic synthesis platform to
accelerate and automate drug discovery, so far a highly manual and
resource intensive process.
In addition, the integration of Synsight's MT
Bench technology will bring a key complementary element to the
Iktos Robotics platform: the biological testing of synthesized
compounds. Synsight further strengthens Iktos’ drug discovery value
chain, enabling the company to internalize biological testing which
has been outsourced until now thus further accelerate the
design-make-test process.
The integration will also enable Iktos to launch
drug discovery programs targeting PPI’s and RPI’s, which play a
critical role in many diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative
diseases.
Synsight’s screening platform that
benefits from AI, cellular imaging and robotization, is in line
with Iktos’ ambition to build an end-to end AI- and
Robotics-enabled discovery platform
Founded by Cyril Bauvais, and Guillaume Bollot,
Synsight, a member of the Genopole biocluster, is based at the Evry
Genopole and operates a joint laboratory with Université Evry Paris
Saclay (UMR 1204 SABNP laboratory). The company uses cellular
imaging, AI and robotization to drive the discovery of PPI- and
RPI-targeted drug candidates.
“This acquisition is an important milestone for
Iktos”, stated Yann Gaston-Mathé, co-founder and CEO of
Iktos. “Iktos, a leader in AI-driven Drug Discovery,
unlocks bottlenecks in challenging programs and accelerates
identification of drug candidates. The acquisition of Synsight
enables Iktos to expand its platform to new modulators of PPI’s and
RPI’s, historically highly challenging targets, thereby addressing
major unmet medical needs in various therapeutic areas such as
cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.”
Alexis Denis, SVP, Head of Drug
Discovery at Iktos, declared: “PPI and RPI are two very
important target families as they regulate major biological
mechanisms and play a major role in many diseases. They are very
promising, but highly challenging targets and notoriously hard to
drug. Synsight’s MT Bench technology platform is a fantastic tool
to study those interactions and identify novel molecules to
modulate these targets. Combined with Iktos Generative AI
technology and Robotics platform, we are confident that we will
have a unique tool to make breakthroughs in this challenging but
very promising field.”
Cyril Bauvais, co-founder and President
of Synsight, declared: “I’m very happy to become part of
the Iktos team and at the perspective of adding our platform to
build a one-of-its-kind drug discovery engine. Iktos superior
generative AI and retrosynthesis AI technology combined with our
expertise in high content cellular screening and detection of
molecular interactions within the cell will provide us with a
competitive advantage in targeting PPIs and RPIs. I, as well as the
whole Synsight team, look forward to a successful collaboration
with our new colleagues.”
About
Iktos
Iktos is a French start-up company specializing
in artificial intelligence and robotic solutions applied to
research in medicinal chemistry and new drug design. Iktos is
developing a proprietary and innovative generative AI solution
which enables the design of molecules that are optimized in silico
to meet all the success criteria of a small molecule discovery
project. The use of Iktos technology enables major productivity
gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. Iktos offers its
technology through the SaaS software platforms Makya™ for
generative drug design and Spaya™ for retrosynthesis, and through
strategic collaborations with pharma companies where Iktos
mobilizes its unique platform and leading-edge capabilities to
expedite small molecule drug discovery for the benefit of its
partners. Iktos has also developed Iktos Robotics, a unique
AI-driven synthesis automation platform that dramatically
accelerates the Design-Make-Test-Analyze cycle in drug discovery
and is developing its own pipeline of drug candidates targeting
oncology and auto-immune and inflammatory diseases. In March 2023,
Iktos completed a 15.5M€ Series A financing round co-led by M
Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation with contribution by Omnes
Capital.
More
information on: http://www.iktos.ai/
About Synsight
SYNSIGHT is a French company specialized in discovery and
development of therapeutic molecules, specifically targeting
protein-RNA interactions. Thanks to its discovery platform, at the
convergence of artificial intelligence and cellular imaging,
SYNSIGHT develops a portfolio of proprietary and partnered small
molecule therapeutic projects.
About Protein-Protein interactions and RNA-Protein
interactions targets
Within living cells, all macromolecules:
proteins, RNA, DNA interact together within complex and
interconnected networks via multiple interactions which play a
fundamental role at all levels of the cell. Metabolism, signaling
and cell proliferation, intercellular communication or even the
maintenance of membrane architecture are notably regulated by
numerous linked to protein-protein interactions (PPI). The same is
true for the large family of proteins that interact with RNA.
Indeed, the fate of coding and non-coding RNAs (stability,
trafficking in the cell) is very strongly associated with the
interactions of RNAs with these proteins (RPI). The search for
small molecules that specifically disrupt these networks and
interactions therefore constitutes a very promising field for
developing new targeted therapies, particularly in oncology and
neurodegenerative diseases.
About MT Bench™
The MT Bench (Microtubule Bench) technology was
originally developed at INSERM, and further developed by Synsight
through the application of lab automation, robotics, high-content
imaging and AI/ML to enable screening and optimization of drug
molecules. It uses the cellular microtubule network as a bench to
detect and quantify protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions,
providing valuable qualitative and quantitative data in a cellular
context. The MT Bench is particularly innovative because it allows
for the direct observation of how small molecules modulate those
interactions, making it possible to assess compound efficacy
directly from inside the cell. This is crucial for an accurate
understanding of the behavior of potential drug candidates in a
biologically relevant environment. In the field of RNA-targeting
drug discovery, where precise and effective targeting of
RNA-protein interactions has been a major challenge, this makes MT
Bench a unique and invaluable tool with groundbreaking
potential.
PRESS
CONTACTSIktos Yann Gaston-Mathé (CEO) –
contact@iktos.comUlysse CommunicationNicolas
Daniels – ndaniels@ulysse-communication.com / + 33 6 63 66 59
22Charles Courbet – ccourbet@ulysse-communication.com / + 33 6 28
93 03 06 |
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