Relation Therapeutics and Novartis Launch Collaboration to Advance Atopic Disease Therapeutics

Relation Therapeutics has announced the formation of a multi-program, strategic alliance with Novartis with the aim of accelerating the development of therapeutic solutions for atopic diseases.

Atopic diseases, a group of allergic conditions including asthma, allergies, and eczema, are caused by immune dysregulation, leading to IgE antibodies overreacting to allergy triggers.

Technological Integration

• The collaboration merges Relation’s AI-powered drug discovery platform, known as “Lab-in-the-Loop,” with Novartis’s established expertise in immuno-dermatology.

• The “Lab-in-the-Loop” platform integrates AI with patient-derived multi-omic data and proprietary experimental systems to potentially uncover causal genes and refine target hypotheses.

• The primary objective is to identify, validate, and advance potential first-in-class therapeutic targets for these immune-driven atopic conditions.

• Under the agreement, Relation is slated to lead observational studies to generate functional cell atlases directly from human patient tissue, an approach expected to mitigate the risk of clinical failure.

• Novartis secures worldwide development and commercialization rights to any resulting drug targets identified through the partnership.

Financial Structure

• Relation is set to receive an initial total payment of $55 million, which includes an upfront payment, an equity investment, and supplemental Research & Development (R&D) funding.

• Furthermore, Relation is eligible to receive preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial sales milestone payments potentially reaching over $1.7 billion.

• The company is also entitled to receive tiered royalties on net sales of any resulting commercialized products.

Executive Statements

• Relation’s Chief Executive Officer stated that their technology helps define molecular pathways in diseased versus healthy tissue, supporting the discovery of new therapeutics. He expressed belief that, combined with Novartis’s development and commercialization capabilities, they can deliver medicines capable of transforming the standard of care.

• The President of Biomedical Research at Novartis affirmed the company’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge, AI-driven approaches to enhance novel target identification and accelerate the drug discovery process, delivering innovative medicines for patients in need.