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news.BioMarin Pharmaceutical has entered a research collaboration with Profluent to design and optimise novel enzyme therapies for its drug development pipeline.
BioMarin will screen and evaluate the computational outputs, with the objective of advancing selected candidates into preclinical testing. Credit: agustin.photo / Shutterstock.com.
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Under the agreement, Profluent will deploy its proprietary suite of protein language models to generate new potential drug candidates.
BioMarin will screen and evaluate the computational outputs to identify molecules with the desired target activity and stability profiles, advancing selected candidates into preclinical testing.
The creation and optimisation of therapeutic enzymes is typically a complex undertaking that requires extensive protein engineering and screening.
Profluent will conduct the computational design work using the Profluent Protein Atlas, a dataset of more than 115 billion unique protein sequences and reportedly the world’s largest protein sequence repository.
BioMarin intends to use these foundation models to rapidly assess alternative protein structures before selecting candidates for further laboratory evaluation.
BioMarin vice-president and metabolic conditions research head Pooja Agarwal said: “Profluent’s AI models represent the kind of external innovation that can complement our own capabilities and help us move promising science forward faster.
“By combining Profluent’s approach to de novo protein design and optimisation with BioMarin’s decades of expertise in enzyme therapies, we have an opportunity to identify promising candidates more efficiently for people with significant unmet need.”
Profluent CEO Ali Madani said: “BioMarin has one of the most credible track records in enzyme therapies, spending decades successfully advancing drugs through the clinic to improve the lives of patients.
“We’re excited to accelerate BioMarin’s drug discovery pipeline and unlock new medicines by combining the strengths of our latest foundation models for protein design with their deep track record of getting therapies to patients.”
Founded in 2022 and based in Emeryville, California, Profluent develops biological foundation models intended for applications across medicine, agriculture, and other fields.
The company’s financial backers include AIX Ventures, Air Street Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Altimeter Capital, Insight Partners, Convergent Ventures, and Spark Capital.
In April, BioMarin Pharmaceutical completed its acquisition of Amicus Therapeutics in an all-cash deal for a total equity value of nearly $4.8bn.
