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 characterized by immune dysregulation.

Technological Integration

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

• Relation’s platform integrates AI with patient-derived multi-omic data and proprietary experimental systems to potentially uncover causal genes and refine target hypotheses.

• Relation is slated to lead observational studies that will generate functional cell atlases directly from human patient tissue. This rigorous approach is intended to maximize the chance of identifying successful targets before candidates enter the clinical phase.

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

• 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 that the combination with Novartis’s development and commercialization capabilities could potentially 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.

Source: https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/novartis-pens-17b-dermatology-pact-ai-enabled-british-biotech